C-Suite Concerns: Michael LaCrosse Of Medford Wellington On The Top 5 Issues That Keep Executives Up at Night
An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
Navigating regulatory changes: The rapidly changing regulatory environment, including new labor laws, environmental regulations and compliance requirements, are also top of mind. As a team, we have to keep up with these changes and ensure the company remains compliant, while driving innovation and maintaining operational efficiency.
A catalyst for business transformation, Michael LaCrosse specializes in optimizing operational efficiency, fostering strategic growth and elevating companies to new heights. With numerous mergers, acquisitions and divestitures to his credit, LaCrosse is a seasoned executive, adept at navigating complex global business landscapes. His expertise spans across various industries, including professional services, manufacturing, robotics and medical devices.
As the CEO of Medford Wellington, the business continuity company, he focuses on driving growth and strategic partnerships, while maintaining a culture of familial camaraderie and unwavering commitment to customer excellence.
Prior to Medford Wellington, he served as the Principal at CLA (CliftonLarsonAllen), where he developed a new consulting service and orchestrated significant growth within a span of four years. Before that LaCrosse was the vice president and chief financial officer at Industrial Physics and spearheaded numerous domestic and global acquisitions and was key in growing the company into a $80 million business.
Other companies LaCrosse worked at include iRobot, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Raytheon Technologies. At iRobot he helped transform the company into a consumer-focused business and led the sale of its defense business.
LaCrosse serves on various boards, including the ABC Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Self-Insurance Group and Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts. He holds a degree in Finance from Bentley University.
When he is not scaling businesses, LaCrosse enjoys playing golf, skiing and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about communication, 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?
Back in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I grew up. In fact, I remember taking a test that was designed to help students figure out what they wanted to do in the future. The results were very interesting, there was a range of opportunities — from becoming a bus driver to an accountant. Between this and the business classes I took in high school, I guess this is how I landed on studying finance in college. I began my career in a Finance Leadership Development Program. Over the years I advanced through the finance and accounting ranks to become a CFO. I then transitioned into consulting where I focused on supporting companies that needed help scaling and transforming their businesses. It’s in this role that I met my current employer, who hired me to lead the organization as CEO, as he prepares for retirement.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The three traits that were instrumental to my success are listening, thinking outside of the box and not being afraid to try new things.
1. Effective listening: Over the years, I have found it super important to listen to everyone in the organization and understand the different roles as well as their thoughts and experiences. By bringing people together and fostering open discussions, we can unite around a shared vision for moving forward. While it’s impossible to please everyone, our goal is to find solutions that satisfy the majority of the team, to drive company improvement. When we listen and collaborate, the right path forward becomes clear, as team members often provide valuable insights into what’s best for the organization.
2. Thinking outside the box: People often think finance and accounting professionals are only good at audits, taxes or reading financial statements. My background is more on the operational side of a business. For example, it is important to understand the entire lifecycle of a customer — from initial customer contact to servicing that customer and finally invoicing and cash collection. This allows someone to identify various areas for improvement and drive meaningful business discussions.
3. Embracing change: One of my former mentors once told me that the only constant thing in business is change. We must always be prepared for change and embrace new ideas and approaches. We also must not be afraid of making mistakes, especially if you are driving business or cultural transformation. This is where the first two traits can be incredibly helpful. Through effective listening and a willingness to think outside the box, we can embrace change as a company.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.
My current role would be one of the examples. Being the CEO of 57-year-old Medford Wellington means transforming the business and propelling the organization into the modern era. This requires making tough decisions, navigating complex changes, implementing technology, while considering multiple perspectives and potential unintended consequences. No road is ever completely smooth, and bumps do occur, but it’s how you course correct that matters. Our goal is to revolutionize outdated processes and technology, moving beyond the ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ mentality. It’s a challenging journey, and one that demands careful consideration and impact to our employees, customers, and stakeholders. By embracing change and continuous learning, we’re shaping a more resilient and forward-thinking organization.
What do you believe are the top five concerns currently preoccupying the minds of C-suite executives, and why?
Like many CEOs, we face multifaceted concerns and reflect on a broad range of macroeconomic factors and industry-specific challenges on a regular basis. Here are my top 5 concerns.
1. Skilled labor shortage: The construction industry is facing a shortage of roughly 650,000 workers. The service industry has similar challenges. Demographic factors, including declining birth rate and the aging population have contributed to this imbalance, making it increasingly challenging for employers to attract the younger generations. We are working diligently to create programs to educate and attract young people into the trades profession and looking at opportunities to collaborate with educational institutions and trade schools to address the skills gap challenge and provide alternatives to college. We are also working very closely with the Gould Institute to support the interest of younger talent in the trades.
2. Workforce dynamics: Hybrid workplace is here to stay and it’s up to us to make sure we have the infrastructure in place to support our remote workers as well as employees who work in the field. For example, do we have technology in place that will allow our plumbers to virtually look at an issue that one of our customers is facing, do a diagnosis of the problem and send the right experts to fix the issue? We have to find the right balance between fostering a hybrid workforce and understanding the impact on the employees and the company.
3. Adapting to industry trends: Staying ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry is a constant priority. Technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviors, and changing market conditions are top of mind. Take the rise of e-commerce, for instance. With the majority of consumers now shopping online and relying on platforms like Amazon for everything from groceries to electronics, our customers in retail are feeling the impact. This forces us to think differently about how we can support these customers while also protecting our business and identifying new opportunities for growth.
4. Rising costs of operating the business: With rising costs across the board, including labor and materials, we are constantly reassessing pricing strategies, compensation packages, and ways to improve operational efficiency. We also have to ensure that employee compensation remains competitive for attracting and retaining top talent. Therefore, we closely monitor economic trends to keep our employee compensation packages and overall cost structure in line with market changes.
5. Navigating regulatory changes: The rapidly changing regulatory environment, including new labor laws, environmental regulations and compliance requirements, are also top of mind. As a team, we have to keep up with these changes and ensure the company remains compliant, while driving innovation and maintaining operational efficiency.
In the face of rapid technological advancements and market shifts, do you find that you need to constantly recalibrate your strategies to ensure sustained growth?
Yes, we continually assess and adapt our strategies to stay ahead of technological advancements and market shifts, ensuring our growth remains resilient and sustainable.
With the emergence of AI, blockchain, and other transformative technologies, how do you determine which tech trends are worth investing in?
We look at technology from two perspectives — enhancing employee safety and productivity as well as delivering exceptional customer experiences that meet their business objectives. For instance, we’re exploring how to utilize sensors to monitor our customers’ systems to ensure they are running optimally 24/7. We see technology as a catalyst for growth, enabling us to expand our market presence and diversify our offerings.
As a top executive, how do you manage stress and maintain mental well-being? Do you have any personal practices or routines that help you stay centered?
I try to spend time each day exercising, which clears my mind and helps me prioritize tasks in order to be prepared for the day ahead. My goal is to be fully present and available for the team during standard work hours. Before and after that, I spend time reviewing my day to make sure I’m where I need to be with what I need to do.
The business world is evolving faster than ever. How do you ensure you’re constantly updating your knowledge and staying ahead of the curve?
Learning from different fields and industries is incredibly valuable. I regularly meet with other companies, competitors, industry experts and peers to gain new insights as well as encourage my team to do the same. By combining knowledge from various sources, the team and I are able to think outside of the box and come up with new ideas that might not have been possible before.
The importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace has been emphasized more than ever. Do you have any initiatives promoting diversity and inclusion in your organization?
As a father of two daughters, this topic is very near and dear to me. I want to make sure whatever field they choose to enter, they will have every opportunity their male peers have. That’s also my goal for the commercial services and construction industry. Since I joined the company, our recruiting team has hired a couple of female technicians with goals to hire more in the future. Having said that, as an industry we are still behind in opening doors to more women professionals. As mentioned in one of my articles — the trades industry is witnessing a welcome shift, with more women joining the profession. This is a positive step in the right direction and one that we are proud to support by investing in continuing education, recruitment and ensuring a safe workplace for all.
Can you share a piece of feedback or advice you received that significantly altered your leadership approach or philosophy?
One of the best pieces of feedback that I received from former mentors is to listen with an open mind vs. coming to a discussion with a set agenda. This enables someone to better understand various opinions, positions, and impacts — all of which helps make informed decisions.
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. 🙂
I’d like to create ‘The Trades Movement’ to educate and inspire young boys and girls, men and women about the rewarding opportunities in the skilled trades industry. This is an industry that can inspire great pride and profit — empowering individuals to build strong futures for themselves and their families. I’d like to help share that vision with the masses and encourage more interest in these much-needed professions.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can follow me on LinkedIn and also check out the educational articles on our website.
· Michael LaCrosse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaellacrosse/
· Medford Wellington Insights: https://medfordwellington.com/blog/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.
C-Suite Concerns: Michael LaCrosse Of Medford Wellington On The Top 5 Issues That Keep Executives… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.