We caught up with Francis McMahon, executive vice president at Canon Solutions America, Production Print Solutions, who spoke about his leadership style, how he came to adopt that style, what being a “corporate hippie” means, and how he is helping the next generation of company—and industry—leaders.

WhatTheyThink: At the thINK keynote last year, you spoke about leadership and your leadership style. In particular, you talked about the company as the “Magic Bus.” Could you explain what you meant by that and how that informs your leadership style?

Francis McMahon: The concept of the “Magic Bus” is pretty important because it’s all about our decision to get on the bus or not. Nobody’s forcing anybody to do anything, but there has to be a belief that, when you get on it, you know that the person driving the bus has an idea of where they’re going. They’re not just going to drive around in circles. Everybody on the bus plays a role in getting to a final destination. But it’s not really about the final destination—it’s about the journey and all the things that you develop and share throughout that journey. You’ve got to be in it together, and “on the bus” together.

WTT: So the company is the bus and the people who work for the company are the people on the bus.

FM: Right, and what that really relates to is the people that are in your organization, the people that you work with. You want to make sure they are tied to the mission. And the way to do that is, instead of telling them what the mission is, make sure they’re a part of developing what that mission is, having them be a part of the creation of the mission. You have to get people excited about where you’re going and they have to feel like they can contribute, that they know the role that they play is important.

Somebody’s playing the part of the driver, somebody’s reading a map—we all have critical roles. But the bus is important because if you go back in time and you read about Ken Kesey’s “magic bus” called “Further,” it was individuals that all felt like they could make a very significant change in the world. But it wasn’t any one person who could do that. So that’s where the “magic bus” comes from.

WTT: You describe your leadership style as “transformational.” What do you mean by that?

FM: Transformational means always looking for new or better ways of doing things. The mind has dimensions. It’s a bit like, the universe has all these galaxies and we keep finding new ones—there are new things being discovered all the time. I think the mind is the same way, and the role of a leader is to help people break through each dimension in their mind so that they can become more creative and more confident. A lot of people don’t know what they’re capable of doing, or they’re not confident enough to explore it. If you can help them break through these layers, every time you get through a new layer, they become even more confident in and competent at what they do. Before you know it, you’ve allowed them to go off and create something on their own because there are no risks. You’ve broken through boundaries, and then they come back to you with amazing ideas. And if you’re willing to listen to those ideas, it can really change your company.

Canon has led inkjet market share for the better part of a decade, and we’ve got very low turnover. We make our numbers every year, and to me, it’s no secret as to how. It’s all these people who are just so committed to being on this bus together, and they all recognize that they’re capable of doing things they probably never thought they could before.

So, yeah, if I had one word to describe my leadership style, it’s transformational. And it didn’t start that way. I had to learn that, and it was from being surrounded by other great people who showed me the way.

WTT: Who were some of those people and those things that got you to where you are today? Who were your mentors?

FM: If I go way back in time, I graduated from San Francisco State, and I got my first job with Kodak as a copier salesman. I was very excited, but I didn’t sell one thing for nine months. Imagine being a young kid on his first job and having zero success. Your confidence goes down. But I had a manager named Vicki Weiss who, every single day, told me how good I was, that it was going to happen. I was doing all the right things, and if I just stuck with it, it was going to happen. Without that, I probably would’ve given up, and my career would be very different today.

And, lo and behold, in the ninth month, I became the number-one sales rep for the month. I still keep the award in my drawer here at Canon as a reminder. I ended up making my quota that year.

What I learned through Vicki was that you have to show a level of compassion. You have to show people that you believe in them—assuming you truly do. And you have to encourage them. And if you do all of those things, they’ll feel valued, they’ll be inspired, they’ll put the effort in, and more than likely they’ll be successful.

We have to recognize that we have a broader calling every day, and that is to provide a level of inspiration to all the people around us to show them that they can be better. It’s contemplating what is important and what it is I need to do when I step into my role today. It’s not about the list of “action items” and attending all these meetings. It’s about how I’m going to walk through the halls here and let people know what’s possible, that we can get there, and get them excited. Being inspirational to the people we interact with every day is really the job that all of us, as leaders, need to have.

WTT: You’ve probably also had managers in the past who were the exact opposite of Vicki. Did you learn anythingfrom them?

FM: I have. One in particular was not a compassionate leader, not someone that was going to tell you you were doing a great job. He had a very different approach, which was more about the need to have an aggressive plan and to make sure we’re all committed to the plan. Everybody needs to know very thoroughly what role they play, how they play, how they’re measured. I hate to use the word, but he was very “transactional” in his leadership approach. This guy completely shaped the way in which I go about leading the organization from a more disciplined approach. And I was very fortunate to work with him for a number of years. So if I had to pick two people who influenced me the most, those would be the two.

WTT: In the background of your Zoom screen, there is a pillow that has “Corporate Hippie” embroidered on it. What does that mean to you?

FM: In high school, I was called a “preppy hippie” because I was running around seeing a lot of Grateful Dead concerts and had very long hair, but I also played three sports and I always had an alligator shirt on.

“Hippie” means different things to different people, but what it means to me is creating a culture where everybody can be happy. Everybody is doing the things that contribute to the broader group. There is no selfishness; everything is selfless. That’s part of being a really good leader. It can’t be about you; it has to be about everybody else. It’s about delivering happiness to people and wellbeing and functioning in a way that’s doing the right thing above all else. So I took that into the workplace and created a culture here based on those values.

The way I hire is based around those values. We hire based on competency, of course, but that’s not the starting point. The starting point is, “Are you a good person? Are you going to work well with others? Are you not going to be selfish? Are you not an egomaniac or a narcissist?”

WTT: In your thINK keynote, you said “drop the title and be one with your organization,” that leadership isn’t necessarily about one’s job title. Obviously that’s your functional role, but at the end of the day you’re the bus driver.

FM: But also recognize that you don’t always have to be the bus driver. Sometimes you have to get up from the driver’s seat and give it to somebody else who’s just much better at whatever the current topic is, or they have another idea, or they could do better leading a certain meeting. Another part of being a “corporate hippie” affects the way I’m dressed. It’s purposeful, meaning I don’t want to look different from everybody else. I want to be with them, not different from them. There used to be special parking here for executives—is it really that far of a walk? Do you really need to have your own spot? Why should I get a premium parking spot when the person who’s working three extra hours every day trying to figure out our marketing or working on a technical issue should probably get it?

WTT: Another topic we should touch on is mentorship. How do you see mentorship from the standpoint of being not only a vendor, but also from that of a print shop owner? What would be your advice on how to approach mentorship?

FM: I think, first off, you have to really care. And if you don’t, recognize that you don’t and give the responsibility to somebody else. But you have to care about people, you have to care about the organization. For me, I also care about the industry. I feel a real responsibility to grow the industry and I can’t do it on my own. So if we can bring all of us together, it can truly grow.

The mentorship part is you have to help people find that fire as well, that commitment to really caring about the industry. I’ve always done mentoring, but I have to accelerate it and offer it to more people now because we’ve got to leave this place in really good hands. You’ve got to select the people that really want to be mentored or don’t know they want it but have the potential to be future leaders, to take our company further, and take the industry further. You have to make the time for it and to show a level of compassion when you tell somebody, “Look, you’re worth investing in. You’re worth my time.”

There are also the people that you’re not quite sure if they deserve the time, but if they come to you and request it, give it to them, and if they respond to it, great. If not, end it quickly because it just means you’re taking time away from somebody else that you could mentor.

But it goes back to deciding what’s really important. I think people that are in “title” roles, especially those that are in a certain demographic—my demographic particularly—you’ve got to sit in the backyard with that cup of coffee and think about what’s most important. And what’s most important is growing this industry, which means you’d better go spend some time with people.

And mentoring doesn't necessarily mean just one-on-one time, but putting people in roles where they’re getting exposed to the broader business, getting them in front of customers, in front of finance, including them in staff meetings.

The other part goes back to the compassion piece, you have to know a person’s individual situation. Do they have children at home, for example. How do you help them be successful at their job while taking into account family obligations? How do you mentor them? And then how do you make sure they’ve got a life where it all comes together in a really wonderful way?

WTT: You have to know people.

FM: Right, and that’s kind of how it works. I think we tend to get up in the morning, look at the calendar, look at the to-do list, and we forget about what’s really important. And we have to remind people about that. And if we do that, we’ll have the next generation of leaders ready to go, so when I look back when I’m 75 years old, I can smile and say, “Wow, look at what they’ve done and continue to do.”