"Leadership, true leadership, is about gaining respect for your vision and promoting an idea where others want to follow voluntarily"
Tyler King is the chief executive at Assuras, who oversees all aspects of the organization. Bringing years of self-developed methodologies and experience from prior leadership and consulting positions, he has pioneered sustainable growth in his time at Assuras. While attending prestigious universities like Harvard Business School and MIT Slone School of Management – Tyler boasts a career trajectory that includes founding new ventures to success.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Tyler King: Thank you Jed for having me. My name is Tyler King and I am the chief executive at a global consulting firm called Assuras. My company helps organizations, governments, and leaders achieve their overall mission and objectives by solving the impossible so that they can go on to impact the world in positive ways.
I have a background in Entrepunership and have spent a great deal in professional studies with some of the world’s leaders in business education. I like to think we empower the clients which we serve, so they can go on to make the world a better place.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Tyler King: Being a global firm, our people are well aware of some of the biggest challenges facing the world today. 2022 has been an interesting year to say the least, but I believe that organizations can take the time to evaluate a lot of the practices they currently have in place to put them in a stronger position within their communities and industries.
If anything, the pandemic has been a wakeup call to businesses that no business can survive without innovation. As we focus upon how the world has been thrown curve balls with economic and logistical/supply chain issues, we can further strengthen our position by taking an issue which affects so many people globally and solve it. It is the innovators who survive the toughest times and those who think through how to turn negatives into positives.
There really isn’t a better position to be in at a time like this. Many companies won’t survive. But the best and the brightest will go on to profit and help the world achieve immeasurable successes due to the creativity and solutions required today.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Tyler King: I believe this year has brought around a lot of great lessons. First, no company, no matter how big or small, is exempt from market forces. In a truly capitalistic economy, the market determines what is of value and what is not. Consumers and businesses alike help define what they can live without and what are necessities.
No industry has not been touched by the changes in the business world in the last couple of years here. But to say that it is all bad is a gross misstatement. Challenges bring opportunities and this is where we must focus our efforts. Bringing real-world success is no trivial matter, especially in challenging times, but it is times like this that allow us to focus our efforts in a way that allows us to all move mountains. I believe the biggest lessons I have personally learned align with core values and about not giving up when times are hard.
One of my favorite quotes is in Latin: Vincet Que Patar, meaning He Who Endures, Conquers. I believe this is especially important, being that we are facing unprecedented times. As such, we must endure overcoming and this is a necessary part of growth. I would not give up living in this time and age for anything. It’s truly a great time to be facing such challenges and to be alive!
As the pandemic has caused numerous issues and disruptions, I believe companies should focus on how they might solve one or two of the biggest challenges facing other companies and clients in their industries. If every organization were to eliminate a problem area, the world would advance on almost an exponential scale. I personally advise my colleges to focus on the number one area which appears most challenging to them.
If they are facing a challenge that is so paramount, it is likely another is also being challenged by the same matter. By bringing multiple ideas to the table and addressing the problem in terms of solutions, we not only create a new revenue stream, but strengthen our position within the marketplace and secure our own future, along with our company’s. I believe everyone should take the biggest negative and brainstorm how they might turn it into a positive.
You will be surprised how often solutions hit you once considering for a number of weeks, almost like a rock being thrown at you. Bam, you have such a simple elegant solution, and you question why you or anyone else hasn’t thought about that before. Without the daily challenges, we would not have the desire to attempt to move forward with bold decisions and actions. This is the time to shine, so take a negative and work on changing it to a positive today!
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Tyler King: I believe the pandemic has changed my own industry by both shrinking revenues while also demanding more performance. These are the times that test the true strengths of organizations. And I love this. It shows where we have been doing well and places front and center areas which we must work on improving. There is no hiding or sweeping problems under the rug.
And this allows us to address one of the hardest things as human beings – which is being truly honest about what is really going on around us. Perceptions are colored by our experiences and own views of the world and how things work. When challenges arise that place us in unfamiliar territory, this allows our own views to be set aside because our issues are now front and center. We must innovate or die. We must solve or fail.
And the only way to adapt in a way that keeps your organization in the business is to address the problem as it truly is and work on developing solutions that address the root of what has been likely misunderstood by sometime. In our case, we have had to adapt by delivering more results at a faster pace in order to keep our clients afloat.
Many clients which we deal with are growing or stretched in terms of financial position. We have to design solutions that accelerate the pace and get them back on track. One way we have also been affected is that we have had to really prove that we will deliver. As such, we have chosen to change payment terms which place our financial position of being paid for our work only after the client has achieved a financially viable position themselves.
This has come at a lot of risk for ourselves, as we expend a great deal of revenue in terms of labor, but it also challenges us to deliver only what is truly beneficial and valuable to our clients. Riding through these tough times with our clients is a great opportunity, as it allows us to grow our relationship on mutual trust through these challenging times.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Tyler King: As for advise, any insight into how other players would have reacted would have aided us in our ability to better respond to the changes in the marketplace and world at large, however, it is obvious now that many of the world’s government did not even truly know their own response until much later into the pandemic.
I don’t believe there is a lot that I really would have counted on early on, but having clear markers of when we transitioned into uncertainty would have been nice. Regardless, we are where we are today and have all made it this far. I personally intend to focus on improving our offerings to clients, starting off with those which are low cost or at no cost, which will help the market thrive as a whole. I believe our organization is part of a larger community and we must all pitch in when times get tough.
This is very much one of those times, so I have asked our team at Assuras to focus on how we can aid our industry and marketplace as a whole without thought of profit. I believe it is the right thing to do.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Tyler King: The place where business transactions occur has been in constant flux since the dawn of the internet and technology revolution. In my personal opinion, the pandemic has only accelerated this transition faster – that is all. I believe we will continue to see a transition to more self-service enabled by technology, as well as a transition to convenient business transactions and on-demand services. Please check back with our consultant’s insights on our website, as this is an area of active research which we are investigating.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Tyler King: I am going to skip this question for now 🙂
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Tyler King: Leadership, true leadership, is about gaining respect for your vision and promoting an idea that others want to follow voluntarily. I believe one of the best ways to do this is by being authentic and by being relatable. With respect to storytelling, I have to communicate in a way that really touches each and every individual within our organization in a way that they can relate to.
Having a common point of view to work from is very benefical. I believe one of the best ways which I use this within my line of business is by telling a success story and then telling a realistic story. Success is often flourished where true effort is underrated. A realistic story takes this into account. So I always lead with the best case scenario (success), then touch back on the likely scenario (realistic).
One of the most important things a leader must do is best honest. And this is key in communication. Tell the way you want things to work, but also take into consideration how they will likely transpire in order to set expectations and prepare for the journey or task.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Tyler King: One thing about true entrepuners, they are always learning and growing as individuals. I believe this is a strength in the personality which makes them highly successful in ventures and in ambiguous situations. Personally, I have been spending a great deal of time learning about quantum physics and how it can be applied to computing and consciousness.
I believe there is a heavy tie, meaning one is dependent upon the other. Intelligence seems to be built upon scaling communication networks to a higher level. As such, considering quantum effects upon that network seems like a good place to gain additional study in, especially as so much about conscientiousness is unknown or debated only in philosophy.
While some of the professional topics I am studying are much lighter, I have also been studying the idea of having a growth mindset – where you use your fears to guide you in life – not in avoidance, but in facing them head-on. I have always enjoyed learning and regularly try to venture outside of my comfort zone in order to learn about something new as often as I get the chance.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Tyler King: One of the hardest challenges throughout life is being honest about your perceptions. Everyone sees the world through glasses that have been colored by our experiences and views of the world. As such, one of the hardest things to do is see things as they are and not as they should be. Especially when addressing personal flaws, many individuals find this an even greater challenge. In my role in consulting with other leaders in the world of business, one of the hardest initial challenges is being able to have the client take a step back and see things the way they are really happening.
Too often, we are called in to address a challenge that isn’t the core root issue that is causing the majority of the pain. So, to rectify this, I ignore management for the initial part of our engagement, working directly with the task performers and observing and making notes along the long process. The next step I do is to document how things really are happening. This is essential, as I explain to our clients, as any roadmap is worthless unless you know where you presently are.
Often, the executives and leaders might think they are in one place on the map when they are in a completely different city or using the entirely wrong map, to begin with. The biggest change to help make people see things is helping leaders to change their presumptions. Learning is first admitting ignorance.
Growth is initially admitting you have flaws. So naturally, we must accept these personal deficiencies and move forward from them with the goal of becoming better with time. Without knowing or admitting these issues, there can be no progress. This is the first step – admitting you might not be perfect and then addressing ways you might improve.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Tyler King: If I were to choose any business superpower – I’d choose the ability to be in multiple places at once. There is so much going on in the world. I don’t want to take away from delegation – that’s not why I’d want this ability. I would rather desire this ability to be in multiple places simultaneously because it would enable me to see more of what is occurring in the world, having a larger dataset to make decisions upon.
In executive leadership, one of the biggest tasks you perform is making decisions with limited information. Any additional information can further help make better decisions – that’s why I’d choose to take this superpower!
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Tyler King: Success is relative. I’ll keep this last one short – in 2022, if I grow as a person – truly grow – I have been successful this year. That includes admitting my flaws, documenting them (yes on paper – scary), and then working to change the habits to reflect better who I want to grow into being. Thanks again for having me!
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Tyler King for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Tyler King or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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