Start With A Win - Leaders Run Toward the Problem

Episode Date: April 6, 2022

Rex Tibbens is the president and CEO of Frontdoor which is the parent company to several home warranty brands, including American Home Shield. He is former chief operating officer of Lyft and the former vice president at Amazon, where he led the technical and product development of Prime Now, Amazon’s one-hour delivery service. Now, he is bringing his former tech leadership into the traditionally lower-tech home warranty industry.Adam and Rex open the conversation by talking about Frontdoor and how the company is working hard to serve the homeowner of the 21st Century through innovation and forward thinking. Throughout his career, no matter the company or industry, Rex’s number-one priority has been obsessing about customers. He knows that customers are the ones who choose your business and decide whether you’re worth sticking with or taking their business elsewhere. Rex also believes in running toward the big problems. He says the leaders who want to step into the fire and solve the problems are the ones who rise to the top. And when you are a leader who runs toward the problems, you have to be okay if you get knocked down. Rex shares how you can grow when you encounter defeat or problems as a leader. It’s important to take a step back, think about what transpired and how you would do it differently the next time. Growing through adversity as a leader is how you build trust within your company and among your employees. And that’s also how you develop employee retention. Because people don’t leave organizations, they leave leaders. A common misconception of leaders when it comes to problem solving is that they always have to be the one with the answers. But the truth is, you don’t have to be the one with the solution. It’s your job to hire good people, build them up, and then trust them to come up with the solutions.When working with his leadership team, Rex says that he will often come at a problem as if he is wrong. He shares that the higher up you are within an organization, the more filtered the information is that you have, and you often don’t have the context you need. So you have to ask probing questions in an understanding manner. His approach is always trust, but verify. Allow your team to challenge you as much as you challenge them.Rex and Adam round out the conversation by talking about the transitions Rex has made throughout his career and the advice he has for leaders who are looking to make a major change in jobs or industries. What excites you about the opportunity? Once the fanfare ends, what’s the real work you’ll be doing? Does that get you out of bed in the morning?Episode Links:https://www.frontdoorhome.comOrder your copy of Start With A Win: Tools and Lessons to Create Personal and Business Success:https://www.startwithawin.com/bookConnect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ Leave us a voicemail:888-581-4430

Welcome to Start With A Win, where we give you the tools and lessons you need to create business and personal success. Are you ready? Let's do this. And coming to you from Denver, Colorado, home of Start With A Win, home also of Remax World Headquarters, one of our amazing sponsors. And we're in the Brand Viva Media Studios today. Another amazing sponsor, producer Mark. How are you doing, buddy? Hey, I'm doing fantastic. Awesome. I'm just doing so good. Love having you in Brand Viva Studios. Love having Remax as a sponsor.

And excited for our guest today, Rex Tibbins. Awesome, yeah. So we like to have a lot of business leaders on. We also have so many listeners, thousands and thousands of listeners in the real estate space. In fact, I mean, it's safe to say that everybody around the world is in the real estate space at this point, simply because so many things are going on. But what do the leaders think when they look at leading a company? We're not really going to dive too deep in the real estate space, but I want to hear about some of the new things that Rex is up to today. So Mark, tell us a little bit about Rex. If people don't know who Rex is, Rex is the

president and CEO of Front Door, which is the parent company of several home warranty brands, including America Home Shield. He is a former chief operating officer of Lyft and the former vice president at Amazon, which he led the technical and product development of Prime Now, Amazon's one-hour delivery service. Now he is bringing his former tech leadership into the traditionally lower tech home warranty industry. So I'm sure he's got a lot of wealth and knowledge for our listeners. Rex, welcome to Start With A Win. Thanks so much for having me. Looking forward to the conversation. Awesome, Rex. I mean, this is really cool because you've been around so many different aspects of Amazon Prime now.

I mean, that's pretty cool. Lyft, all of these things deal with the consumer. There's a consumer experience that's involved in all these things. There's a convenience. There's technology behind it. It's fascinating how all these things kind of blend together with the consumer at the center of all this because ultimately we're about the consumer experience here. But why did you decide to make the switch to the home services space at Front Door? And tell us a little bit about front door also. Sure. So, so front door is a, is a public company. We've been a public company since October of 2018, where, you know, we, we, we have a great, we have great level of, of contractors. We have 17,000 contractor firms, 65,000 technicians,

and we have about 2.2 million customers. And, you know, our whole mission is to take the hassle out of home ownership. And, you know, first and foremost, through our core business, which is, you know, the home service plan space. But we're actually thinking much broader beyond that. And that's around home services in general, which is a much larger and broader, about $500 billion total addressable market. So pretty big market out there. Awesome. So at Front Door, I mean, you guys, you're in the home warranty industry mostly. Is that correct? We have really, I think, three main categories, if you will. Our largest is home service plan or home warranty, where we've been in business for about 50 years and we're one of the larger players in the U.S.

And then since I joined, we also have an on-demand service. So ProConnect allows you not to have a home service plan and get access to those same contractors and really the hard to get trades. And that's HVAC, plumbing, electric, appliance, et cetera. And the third part of our business, really, which is part of our digital first strategy, is we acquired a company called Stream. What Stream really allows us to do is have a face-to-face conversation like you and I are having and really think about, in the background, being able to leverage machine learning and other technology that really allows us to really change how consumers think about home

services. And so that's the part we're really excited about is now we can leverage this amazing piece of technology, not only in our core business, but in our new businesses as well. Awesome. And it's interesting about home warranties. And we hear about so many of these during that negotiation process of the buyer comes in, they want a home warranty, something like that. And it's fascinating because a great deal of them don't get used, but a great deal do get used when somebody has a home warranty. Why should somebody have a home warranty in your perspective? Because I'm just thinking about, oh my gosh, when something breaks, you wish you had something like that, as opposed to

now you got to track down some sort of a vendor, a contractor or something like that. And you're like, well, it's going to take you two weeks to come out and fix my furnace. Well, it's like 10 degrees out. Why is it going to take so long? But you guys kind of shortcut a lot of that, don't you? Well, by having the kind of breadth of contractors that we have, the real value proposition comes down to, I think, a couple of things. One is the majority of our home service plans cover 23 systems and appliances. So you get a pretty wide level of coverage. Some people compare us to insurance, but insurance is something you buy when you're hoping something will uh won't happen uh you you buy our home service plans kind of knowing something's going to happen and generally our customers use this you know at least twice a year or

or or they're not our customers anymore so um you know the the value uh is is not only that kind of budget protection so making sure sure that you can kind of live within your budget and there's no kind of big gotchas out there. And then the second thing, and I think this is the one that's really growing, especially as more and more millennials buy homes, is that kind of convenience or peace of mind, right? So people just want to pick up their phone and get their problem solved. And that's where we really think we can add a lot of value. And we're not an emergency service, so we can't show up an hour or two. But we do have probably one of the larger contractor networks that can help you resolve that problem in your home.

Cool. All right. Let's talk about you now, Rex. You're in a great company, but you've been in some other amazing organizations in very high-level positions in those. How have you evolved your leadership over these three organizations that you've been part of, these three spectacular companies, Lyft, Amazon, and now Front Door. I mean, what changes have you made personally in yourself, and how do you see that benefiting the consumer? Yeah, well, I think it all comes down to obsessing about customers. And no matter what industry you're in, the customers are the ones who, you know, decide to stay with you and help you grow your business. And so I think it doesn't matter what industry you're in, you know, really focusing on customers is job one.

As I've thought about, you know, my career, it's really been about running towards the big problems. And I think people, you know, to really grow as a leader, you have to become resilient. And, you know, I think resiliency is kind of never really talked about, but, you know, it's the people who want to go into the fire and they want to help solve the problems and they want to skin their knees and really learn a lot. Those are the ones who I think, you know, kind of rise to the top, if you will. And so, you know, for my career, it's really been about, you know, obsessing about customers, trying to solve the big problems and learning from those. And then, you know, being okay if you get knocked down or it doesn't work. That resiliency is what carries you through as a leader. Interesting thoughts there because so many people, they get knocked down and they go home and they just, you know, at the end of the day, they're like, oh, I hope I don't have to do that again.

But it seems like leaders like you go home and go, wow, I learned a lot from that. I mean, how do you make that mindset shift where you're not letting it beat you up every day and utilize it to propel you to the next day and the next decision in your business? Yeah, look, we're all humans. So it doesn't mean, you know, I don't wake up some days and I'm like, well, that was hard. But, you know, I think you do need to take a step back and really, you know, think through kind of what transpired. What did you really learn about it, how would you do things

differently, and how do you really move the ball forward the next day? Because as leaders, people are looking at you to call the shots. I think people don't leave organizations, they leave leaders. If you don't have that level of confidence, if you haven't gotten up a little bit early and thought about the problem, you don't have to be the one who has a solution. Matter of fact, I would argue that you don't want to be the one, the solution, you want to hire good people and you want them to challenge you and you to challenge them. But to me, that's, you know, that's how you kind of get up every morning and, and you kind of dust yourself off and you go out for another game. I like that, that hire good people, don't be the one to solve the problems, but facilitate that. It seems to me like a lot of people, a lot of

leaders try and shoulder that responsibility and they don't, they don't share it. I mean, ultimately people want to be able to step up and prove themselves to their leaders. How do you build that support system and put the ego out of it so that you can rely on others in a transparent manner where they don't, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, if I do that, they'll look at me like I'm weak. But is that truly what happens when you're vulnerable to people like that? Yeah, well, I've told my team a couple of times, I try to come at a problem as if I'm wrong, not as if I'm right. The higher up you are in an organization, your information is filtered.

You probably don't have all the context that you need to get the answer that you're looking for. And so I think it's important that you ask probing questions, not in an accusatory fashion, but more just trying to, you know, seek to understand where they're coming from. And then ask probing questions in terms of, well, how are you thinking about that? Why are we thinking that way? As, you know, for one, for you thinking about that? Why are we thinking that way? As, you know, for one, for you to learn as a larger leader. And then two, you know, that's how you really provide the guidance. And I call it, you know, trust but verify. And, you know,

I have gray hair for a reason, right? So it's important to really, you know, ask those questions, especially with younger leaders, you know, nine times out of 10, they're going to be spot on. And I'm going to learn something out of the deal as well. And so I'm also a firm believer that, you know, you never stop learning. And so I think that level of confidence in your leaders, that level of, you know, if you're always trying to be more of the player than the coach, you just have a lot of weak players. And so allow your team to challenge you just as much as you challenge them. Some wise statements here. A lot of great leadership insight coming from Rex today.

Rex, you know, you've made three major pivots in your career. Is there a particular turning point in your career that comes to mind where you had an aha moment or made a change and you thought, okay, here's what I got from this? Is there anything that stands out in particular to you that propelled you forward during these changes in your career? Well, I think I'm a glutton for punishment. I love industries that are ripe for transformation because if you're not involved in that, then someone else will be. And so as I look across my career, I've had long stints in some companies, but the reasons why I had long stints is because I was always challenged and there was always something new to learn. When I look at my career over the last decade, it's really been about looking for those opportunities to really transform. And so I certainly got that in spades at Amazon. I joined Lyft because it's really cool to really, there's only a few times in your career you can be involved with transforming something,

especially in industry. And then the same thing applies for home services here at Front Door. I really think we're just getting started as you think about our ability to really change. This whole industry hasn't changed since it was really developed. You still have to call someone, you still have to roll a truck, you still have to have to you know someone has to look at it and then tell you what's wrong and then come back later and fix it well let's bring everyone back you know or into the next century and let's have a digital conversation let's leverage technology in the background to really uh you know flip the script on on the whole industry to me that's super exciting that's that's what you know going through the pain of a transformation makes it all worthwhile

and so from a career perspective it's it's finding those opportunities that i always tell people like the best job you can ever get is the one that makes you a little queasy and so if you if you're looking at the next job and it's comfortable and it's like, oh, yeah, I can do that in my sleep, well, it's a terrible job for you. You should find the job that challenges you. And it's not a layoff by any means. I love that. So you're talking about when we switched away from the fax machine in the real estate space? There are some that still use it, believe it or not.

I know. It's crazy. You walk in an office, you're like, what is that? And, you know, oh, that's the fax machine. When's the last time it went off? Well, it rings every now and then, but a lot of these places don't even have landlines anymore. So it's pretty cool how we're technologically adapting. And I mean, I was talking to producer Mark earlier today about ordering food and geofencing and the food being started when you get a certain distance from a place and the demographics and the data behind it. I know you've been very heavily involved in all of those different aspects of these industries because, I mean, to be the chief operating officer at Lyft, data heavy, data heavy organization using a lot of technology, but people backed,

and you have to motivate them. And you've, you know, you've made a lot of a lot of great transitions when it comes to delivering technology and data to that human factor. But there's got to be some advice that that people come to you for when they're going to make a move from one part of the tech space to another, or one part of the home space to another, or something like that. What advice would you give someone who's looking to continue to up their game or move from one industry to another, knowing that if it involves tech and it involves people, fundamentally, Rex Timmons can come in here and go, I can do this.

I mean, what advice do you have for somebody else to understand that they can too? You know, I think the biggest thing I would tell people is what excites you about the opportunity? And if it's something other than obsessing about customers or solving a large problem, it's probably a shiny penny that will get very dull as soon as you join. So really thinking through, you know, once, you know, once the fanfare ends and you've announced that you're, you know, you've gone to company X, Y, and Z, what's the real work that you're going to be doing? And not, well, I think it's this or it could become that or I hear that a lot.

No, no, no. What is it and what are you personally going to solve? And does that get you out of bed in the morning? Does that excite you? Is that some of the hardest problems that the company is facing? And back to the queasy comment, is that something where you're like, oh, that's a really big job and I'm not sure I can do that. Well, that's probably the right one for you. But otherwise, especially people who start to see a little success,

they get inundated with opportunities and you really have to think through, okay, again, after the fanfare, what am I really doing? Is that something I'm passionate about? Awesome. I love that. It's clear that you're passionate about people and innovation and development. And thank you for that. Rex Tibbins, I mean, you've had an amazing career. You're the CEO of Front Door. You've been a VP at Amazon. You were the chief operating officer at Lyft. You've got to live your life on some systems and processes. And that's really a lot of what this podcast is about is starting with a win. So Rex, do you have a particular habit or system or process that you use in the morning to start your day with a win? Well, since the pandemic began, I've actually changed my systems.

And I always put everything ahead of myself. And now I get up early, I go in the garage, and I work out for an hour. Monday through Friday. And it's my only me time. It's my time to think. It's my time to exercise my brain and my body. And it's become a habit. And what a wonderful habit it's become.

I have some other terrible habits. I love coffee and diet Maladu as well. But, you know, that's really been, I'm sure, a life changer for me. But, you know, what I would tell people is that you have a lot of things coming at you. And so my whole strategy is, should I spend my time doing this? And is there someone in the organization better equipped to handle this than me. So I spend a lot of time on alignment. I spend a lot of time on making sure that we're getting the most out of the people in big roles. So that's some of my mechanisms for leadership, if you will. But getting up in the morning and working out has been a life changer for me. So that's a new habit that I'm really happy I have.

Awesome. Thanks so much, Rex Tibbins, CEO of Front Door. We appreciate you being on Start With A Win and thanks for all that you do. Thanks for having me. If you're ready to create personal and business success, make sure to subscribe to this podcast and head over to wherever you get your books and order Start With Win, the book. For more great content, you can go to startwithwin.com. And until next time, remember, start with a win.