For a little over six years, I worked in the IT department at Ameristar Casinos. It was there that I had the opportunity to work with Mr. Craig H. Neilsen, Chairman and CEO of Ameristar Casinos.  

Craig was a remarkable man. He had incredible vision and unparalleled drive and determination. He inspired me with his attention to detail and his focus.  What made him even more remarkable was that, although he suffered a spinal cord injury in 1985, leaving him a quadriplegic, he, from his bed and wheelchair, very successfully guided a large publicly-traded casino company with over $1 Billion in annual revenue.

Throughout my career, I have been exposed to a lot of different leaders – from the cerebral thinker to the larger than life inspirational leader to the raging egomaniac. I have learned that presence and leadership is a lot more than giving good speeches or being a commanding physical presence, it is in how they inspire people with their vision to go beyond themselves and achieve more. Craig didn’t have a commanding physical presence. He was not an eloquent orator who could motivate with passionate speeches. What he did have was a singular vision and was able to inspire others to work with him to make that vision a reality.

Although I didn’t have as much interaction with him as others, I learned a great deal by watching him. I wanted to share the lessons I learned from this amazing and powerful leader.

1.    Pay attention to the details – No detail was too small for Craig if that detail impacted customer experience. I can remember one occasion spending hours in a hotel room mockup as every detail of the room was discussed from the thickness of the baseboards to the positions of the television and the furniture. Craig wanted to both make sure the room was comfortable and functional and he also wanted a space that would be able to be maintained by the staff so that the consistent high-quality experience could be replicated for the guest each time they visited.

2.    Always keep learning… and enjoy it – Craig never assumed he knew everything. He enjoyed learning new things and also enjoyed teaching what he knew to his staff. He was a lifelong learner and had a high level of curiosity that never quit.

3.    Trust your team / Delegate and have high expectations – Because of his paralysis, he was limited in what he could physically do. He realized that he could not do all the work himself. He, instead, set his vision and then surrounded himself with people who were smart, talented and capable and who understood and believed in his vision. He then set them loose to do what they did best.

4.    Hire life-long learners – Craig expected his team to continually improve. He tried to surround himself with inquisitive people who were not content to rely on past experiences but instead who sought out new knowledge and constantly tried to improve themselves.

5.    Create an Ownership culture – Employees chase a paycheck, owners are always looking to improve the company. Craig hired and promoted people who thought like owners and had a deep passion for the company and shared in his vision. Similar to many great companies, Craig also set compensation based on both individual and company performance. The company’s success was tied to the employee’s success and vice versa. 

6.    Good ideas can come from anywhere –  He encouraged others to speak up, ask questions and share opinions in meetings, regardless of their role in the company. He recognized that valuable insights can come from anyone and limiting discussions reduces the likelihood that the best solution can be discovered.

7.    Consistency is king – Craig realized that nothing kills loyalty faster than a bad experience. He expected that if you visited one of his casinos now or six months from now, you would get the same high quality experience each time. He was constantly pushing his team to improve their quality and consistency across all areas.  

8.    Quality costs less in the long run – Customers appreciate quality. Craig demanded quality work in everything that was built. He recognized that while quality products and services often cost more up front, they will last longer and perform better over time. He was certainly not one to overpay and made sure that we got a fair price but he also taught us to not cut corners or accept sub-par work when quality and performance was on the line.

9.    Know your competition and beat them – Each business leader on the team was expected to understand trends in the marketplace. Craig always wanted be aware of the competition, what they were doing successfully and he was not afraid to use that knowledge to make his product better, even outspending them on the things that matter. In the long term, knowing the marketplace and spending in the right areas resulted in Ameristar being consistently #1 in each of their markets.

10. In the end, it’s still a business – Being fiscally responsible is critical. If the numbers don’t work, the project just can’t move forward. Craig always asked for options so that he could weigh the costs and the benefits derived from the solutions being considered. He would not let his ego or pride put him in a position to make a bad financial decision.

11. Our limitations don’t define us – After his spinal cord injury, Craig could have decided to retire or sit around feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he got back to work. He recognized that dwelling on what he can’t do does him no good. So he focused on what he could do. He pushed himself and got even more laser focused on the task at hand. While he was very successful before the accident, he built much of his company and his fortune after his accident. He was named the Casino Gaming Industry’s top CEO for 2002. At the time of his death, Ameristar had revenues in excess of $1 billion. 

Sadly, he passed away in 2006 but not a month goes by that I don’t think about Craig and the leadership lessons he taught.  His legacy lives on in the company he built and the people whose lives he touched and help shape.

To learn more about Craig, check out his Wikipedia page at Craig Hart Neilsen. To learn more about his legacy and his fight to cure paralysis, check out the Craig H Neilsen Foundation at http://chnfoundation.org