As part of our Young Ones to Watch series, we interviewed Randy Shacka, president of  TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®. This is the second iteration of a two-part series where the successful leader discussed his role in moving the brand forward and maintaining momentum. Read the first part here. 

What would your advice be to the next generation of young men and women hoping to make their mark on the business world?
First, define your purpose. You can’t go into business without a passion and sense of fulfillment in what you are doing. If you don’t have a vision in place for yourself, at least define where your purpose should be in business. It doesn’t have to be perfect and will probably change some, but I wish I had done this sooner in life.

Second, be willing to get your hands dirty. Business is not easy. It’s a constant battle of making the right versus easy decision. If you are going to grow and make your mark, you have to be willing to put yourself in an uncomfortable position and often times do the difficult or mundane things to move forward.

Third, realize there is usually no quick fix or jump to making your mark. It takes hard work and time to build that. Your job is to continue to grow and get better so when that next opportunity comes your way you are ready.

Lastly, don’t ever play the victim role in business. Someone else got a promotion, it’s unfair, a new regulation hits, why us? I see it too often where placing blame is easier than looking in the mirror (myself included), but the people I have seen grow and take on more roles in our company and others never play the victim and in turn choose to find a positive way to drive change.

In your own opinion, what is the formula young executives should follow in order to mature into established business leaders?
Stewardship plus continual learning plus a growth mindset plus relationships plus results equals significance.

For stewardship, as a young leader you must want to help others succeed first. Without this servant attitude others will not grow. And if others are not growing, then you are not leading.

As far as learning, life is a university and if you are not continually learning and evolving, you are dying as a leader. I don’t care if its reading, watching a TED talk or listening to a podcast, you must always be looking to learn more and absorb more related to business, leadership and life.

A growth mindset is probably the simplest yet hardest concept to continually perform. If you are going to mature into a business leader, you must have a growth versus fixed mindset. Business is a grind day in and day out and your business is a reflection of your mindset. If you are personally growing, changing and seeing challenges as opportunities, your business will as well. Conversely, if you are set in your ways, happy with the status quo and not seeking to grow, your business will follow the same path.

Fostering healthy and strong relationships is critical. Your personal network of influencers should be growing with your business. It takes a village to raise a business and having great relationships with people allows you to reach out for support when needed, as well as provide help and care for others when they need it. I wish I had learned this sooner in life.

If you are not bringing results to the business as a leader, your tenure will be short. That’s the brutality of business. But it’s also the motivation to excel and embrace the other areas above to drive those results.

Significance, to me, is the output for a leader. Not success but significance, and if you are practicing stewardship daily, continually learning as a leader, bringing a growth mindset to the business, building relationships and driving results, at the end of the day, you will have made a lot of significance. That is the essence of becoming an established leader in my opinion.