As chief executive, he restructured the company, installed new management, and came up with a new strategy for the company's direction. The company's share price rose from 3 cents to $5. After taking the company from near-collapse to 21 consecutive quarters of profits, Lacey led the successful sale of the company. He went on to lead the turnaround of CKE Restaurants Inc. before joining Teletech.
"It was a trial by fire," says Lacey of his experience at Capital Associates. "And that was actually an advantage." He credits his rise to chief executive to addressing the company's problems holistically, with an eye on both administrative and financial solutions. It's hard to imagine what kind of career Lacey might have had if — in the midst of his company's crisis — he had stuck to crunching the numbers.
A Caveat
Lacey's take-charge attitude was welcome because Capital Associates needed help and leadership. But Rick Smith warns against confusing proactive with overly aggressive. In other words, make sure you have permission — or at least an implicit understanding — that you can exceed your normal role.
You certainly shouldn't "demonstrate authority when you don't necessarily have it," adds Smith. He tells of one executive who was working on a special project with a team. She finished the project on her own and presented it to the CEO, who was impressed — but the executive also alienated her teammates, who felt she was showing them up.
That same warning holds in more-ordinary situations. If you haven't been invited to a nonfinance company meeting, don't simply invite yourself. Instead, obtain buy-in from your boss by explaining how your participation would help you perform your finance job better. (Naturally, you will have carefully selected a meeting where you believe you'll have something to add, too.) As Smith puts it, "Just because you weren't invited, doesn't mean you don't belong in the room."
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