A Conversation with Ervin Cash, President & CEO at Polaris Insights Inc.
What does great leadership look like? My conversation with Ervin explores his leadership philosophy, values, and approach to motivating teams to achieve ambitious goals, challenging others when they’re ready for more, and leading without regret. This post—full video interview included at the end—unfolds his leadership journey and the insights he has so generously shared to set other leaders up for success, exemplifying what great leadership looks like, while reminding us that it’s our own point of view that determines our steps.
Ervin has spent more than forty years working across manufacturing, sales, business strategy, and private equity. He’s had a variety of leadership assignments, leading U.S., Japanese, and German companies, global companies, and family-owned businesses. What he’s learned throughout his career is that success isn’t measured by the number of CEO positions held, but by the absence of regrets.
His leadership philosophy is centered on the belief that it’s better to move further with a team than faster alone, and without personal gain at the expense of others.
He admits this hasn’t always been easy, especially when it interfered with the goals of those he’s reported to, but that it was worth it to be true to himself, his leadership style, and his team. For Ervin, part of being a great leader means that sometimes you have to put yourself in a difficult position for the good of the team.
He doesn’t consider his journey to be different or better than anyone else’s, but that we all have a path to take, and what’s important is that you’re true to yourself.
“We’ve all got a path that we take, and I think what’s important is you’re true to yourself.”
For the past eight years, Ervin has owned his own business, working as an operating partner and consultant to different private equity companies. He enjoys mentoring rising stars, helping put together business plans, challenging teams for aggressive growth, and helping them understand what motivates people.
Ervin acknowledges that leadership is complex, and something he continues learning about. What he’s appreciated most is honing his skills to help others understand that they don’t have to change who they are to achieve a goal—that there are a variety of ways and a variety of personalities that can achieve what might seem like an impossible challenge.
Through his experiences, he’s learned when and when not to push. Those who have worked with him have come to call this his velvet thumb, “I put my velvet thumb on their back, and they’ll know that I’m pushing them, but it never hurts because I’m doing it with their best interest at heart.” When teams see this as a mode of operation, it instills confidence in them.
People look to a leader who leads with integrity, someone who looks out for the group, not just for themself. When they see that a leader is willing to take the time to provide mentorship, they begin to believe that they’re not only going to achieve the goal in front of them, but that they are going to get better in the process of achieving it—and this, Ervin says, is what motivates people.
Motivation is what happens when someone believes they will not only accomplish the goal but grow in the process.
Ervin refers to his personal values as a trilogy, with the first value being integrity. For him, this means showing up as the same person no matter who he’s speaking with, saying, “I’m just going to tell it like it is.” For him, it is important that people know who they’re going to get and not have to worry about what version they’re going to get. He shares that this approach adds a lot of confidence to teams because they see you’re the same person every day.
The second value in Ervin’s value trilogy is passion for the goal. He believes passion is far deeper than determination—that it’s more than the appreciation for the goal or the promise to achieve the goal, it’s about loving it—loving the fight, loving the rigor, knowing that it won’t be easy, but not letting that stop you from going after the goal. This, he believes, is the kind of passion that inspires and invigorates those around you.
Passion is far deeper than determination.
The last value in Ervin’s value trilogy is grit. When getting to know someone, he wonders—how will this person show up when things get challenging? Will they be who they say they are when the going gets tough? Do they have the discipline to act on what is right, even in difficult moments?
As a leader, Ervin believes that having grit is essential, and that it complements the other two values of integrity and passion for the goal. People see that you are who you are, even in difficulties. They see your passion for the goal persist through challenges because you have grit—you have that ability to see things through.
For Ervin, the hardest times in leadership were the times when he lacked confidence in the goals or the leaders he reported to. He says it’s a real dilemma when you don’t trust the person you’re supposed to be following, yet still have a team with things to accomplish, with people’s lives and livelihoods depending on it.
In these moments, he says he hasn’t been nearly as effective, leading him to approach those he’s reported to with a straightforward discussion, believing he owes it to himself and his team to be honest and transparent.
He never wants to live with regret for not saying what needs to be said, believing it can be a dangerous thing for a person to get too comfortable not speaking up, even when it’s hard, and that oftentimes it’s the best thing you can do to lead without regret.
Speaking up with honesty and transparency, oftentimes, is the best thing you can do to lead without regret.
Ervin spoke of his mentor, dating back to his college days, who encouraged him to leave the nest and create something of his own when he had the opportunity to take a leadership position several states away, making a big change in his life. “He knew enough about me that he knew professionally it was time for me to leave the nest. He had confidence in me that I could create something.”
He credits his mentor with knowing exactly what he needed for his professional career and admits that, had his mentor advised otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have done it—that he would have trusted his advice not to go.
He says it was completely the right advice, because he needed to be kicked out of the nest, stating that, “Life isn’t about comfort, life is about challenge and adventure.” Recognizing that his move from Kansas City to Cincinnati became the absolute turning point, opening doors he would never trade.
“Life isn’t about comfort, life is about challenge and adventure.”
Kicking others out of the nest is something Ervin looks for. He doesn’t think it’s necessarily bad to be comfortable—just that it’s easy, and that sometimes people need to be reminded that the best happiness doesn’t come from comfort, but rather the achievement of overcoming a challenge.
That it can be scary to put yourself in the place of a challenge to take on something that’s bigger than you, something you’ve never done before, but that it’s invigorating, and it’s when you learn who you are as a person. When he recognizes that people are ready to be challenged, he feels it’s his duty to push them.
“I feel a real sense of duty to push them, and to get out the velvet thumb and say, I think you should do this, and it’s time for you to fly.”
To the next generation of leaders, he stresses the importance of knowing yourself, being honest with yourself, and being honest with other people, “Look people eye to eye and really communicate.” He says, “Just keep talking.”
He believes connection, communication, and transparency are most important in times of relationship strain. “If you have the lifeline of talking through it, you can get through it and understand that usually it’s just a temporary point of view difference.”
“Look people eye to eye and really communicate. Just keep talking.“
His advice is to listen deeply to your intuition, and to act on it, saying that intuition is what helps you recognize that opportunities might be fleeting—and, as his grandmother used to tell him, to strike when the iron is hot.
He provides encouragement that it’s still a beautiful world out there, and to find the beauty in the midst of noise and complexity. That it’s easy to be critical, to find fault, to find things that aren’t working right, but to find the beautiful. He says keeping this in mind will either shape or distort everything about how you see the future.
“Find the beautiful, because it’s out there.”