Leadership retreat exec’s guide to building a business that’s ‘well done’

A hard hat and a bible have had a heavy impact on Ken Gosnell’s leadership philosophy and career.  

The founder of Lakeland-based CEO Experience, Gosnell says the significance of both those objects was something he learned from his father, Brian. The elder Gosnell, whose own father was killed by a drunk driver when he was 15, always worked hard labor jobs. So he always left the house with a hard hat. The oldest of five siblings, Brian Gosnell quit school when his father died to go to work and help his mom provide for the family. 

While the hard hat was on his head, Brian Gosnell also left the house with a Bible. When Ken Gosnell  was 10 years old, growing up in the Midwest, he asked his dad why he brought a bible to work. “He said that the Bible helped him, and he wanted to read it during his breaks,” Ken Gosnell writes in a LinkedIn post. 

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Ken Gosnell, 51, aims to deliver help, using Biblical themes, to other leaders and executives through CEO Experience. The business, which Gosnell moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Polk County early in the pandemic, focuses on five retreat-based experiences for CEOs and leaders. The list includes private retreats; peer retreats, which are monthly full-day gatherings with a group of CEOs; off-site strategy retreats; and internal team retreats. 

Gosnell comes to CEO Experience, and the retreats, after a life of lessons learned through his Christian faith. It’s the bedrock of his business, and it’s also the basis of a book he wrote in 2021, “Well Done: 12 Biblical Business Principles for Leaders to Grow Their Business with Kingdom Impact.”

Gosnell is clear about his faith, but he also believes that the principles he writes about, and talks about at his retreats, can resonate with people in any faith or of little faith. 

“Sometimes when people read these principles, they get into the Bible for the first time or they get reacquainted with it. And I’m very honored by that,” Gosnell tells me in a recent phone interview. “But you don’t have to have religion for these. We’ve used these principles going back thousands of years and we are still using them today, whether we realize it or not.” 

First move 

The 12 principles include: 

1. Always take the second step.

Gosnell says “good companies develop a second-mile mentality.” That involves doing more than customers might anticipate or expect. “Surprise others by paying attention to the little things others don’t,” he writes. “Be different.” 

2. The Golden Rule works if you work it.

This widely known axiom, says Gosnell, only works if you spend time and energy executing it. “Think of others first,” he writes. “Treat others like you want to be treated. Practice thoughtfulness. When you think of the customers, they will think of you.”

3. Focus on profit with a purpose.

Another well-known business axiom, Gosnell traces this to a Biblical question: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” In Gosnell’s interpretation, this means you should both strive to make a profit and use that profit for good. “Live life and run your business with purpose and vision,” he writes. “Attract others to your mission and your dream. Always explain your why.”

4. Know your yeses and noes.

This principle, Gosnell says, is about being decisive — and then not waffling under pressure when the decision is dicey. “Make your signature mean something,” he writes. The yeses and nos come with responsibility when you are leading a team or a business, he adds. “Develop and build trust relationships by conveying to others they can count on you and your commitments. Many leaders lose their influence with others because they commit to aspirational yeses.”

5. Make the move from owner to overseer.

The key behind this principle is also the name of his book — well done. “‘Well done’ should be something you want everyone to say and you want everyone to hear at your company,” Gosnell says. For Gosnell, ‘well done’ is the lynchpin to delegating work to others who have earned it — a must-do for any good leader — and the map to going from merely owning a business to being a steward of the business. 

6. Trust the law of sowing and reaping.

This principle follows another oft-heard phrase, that you will reap what you sow. Gosnell preaches that in doing that leaders should remember to be modest. “Don’t be afraid of starting with a small seed,” he writes. “The harvest you are reaping today is from the seeds that you planted yesterday.”

Do the right thing

7. Believe and ask for the impossible.

If you are immersed, or even aware of biblical principles, it’s likely easy to believe in big things, Gosnell says. “Supersize your thoughts and your beliefs. Everything great starts with a dream. The world is better when people dream big and believe that impossible things can happen.”

8. Build to the fourth generation.

In a blog post on this principle, Gosnell quotes a famous religious-based leader, Martin Luther King Jr., who “taught that the time is always right to do what is right.” Gosnell says “businesses built on a solid foundation are built to last generations. Companies that lack a solid foundation are built on slippery ground that can crumble at any time.”

9. Know the order of things and work the order.

Gosnell traces this principle to three words: but seek first. Seeking to understand provides a clear path to clarity — which any leader should drive for,  Gosnell says. “A great principle to practice in business is to focus on first things.”

10. Improve your team to improve your organization.

While Gosnell takes this principle back to the Bible, it’s also closely connected to a famous business book many leaders consider something akin to a Bible: “Good to Great,” by Jim Collins. In that book, the author talks about putting the right people in the right seats on the bus, to improve performance. Gosnell says this principle is also about having the humility to know you can’t build a sustainable business on your own. “You need a team around you to inspire you and help you build something bigger than you can build alone.”

11. Do things today that will impact today and tomorrow.

This principle starts with encouraging leaders to invest in their company’s people. It also includes encouragement to invest wisely in all aspects of the company. “A leader,” Gosnell says, “must make use of the resources of the company to make the right investments in the business, people and infrastructure.”

12. Work to well done.

Fittingly the last chapter, this principle is Gosnell’s why, and an essential part of his “higher calling” business model. “Building a business on Biblical principles requires a change of perspective,” he writes. “Do everything for a bigger purpose and a nobler cause. Always improve and strive to make products and services better.”