Quicken Loans Companies

Cavalier' s proprietor Dan Gilbert leads 100 companies to 19 "isms".

Gilbert is the multibillionaire proprietor of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and the creator of Quicken Loans, the United States' biggest provider of mortgages." Some 20 years ago he was writing the first edition of the company cultural leader "Isms". Now it is passed on to every member of his Rock Ventures line of more than 100 companies.

Gilbert Dan is running an imperium. Many of his billiard performances as a businessman include owning the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, but he is also the president and founding father of Rock Ventures, his parent corporation for over 100 companies, among them the Cavs, the Bedrock property firm that is changing Detroit city center, and the firm that first gave him great initial acclaim, the Quicken Loans mortgages bank.

Some 20 years ago, Gilbert resolved to put down a list of principals that would help shape the Quicken Loans company structure, leading to the publication of the "isms" - the "cutesy" slogans, as Gilbert called them, which represent larger scale managerial notions. "Gilbert began with a few "isms" and added more over the years.

"Elementary Einstein did not invent the theory of relativity. He found it," said Gilbert. "Today, every Rock Ventures staff member receives a 144-page "isms" guidebook with 19 guiding principals. Instead of being read like a dull account card, it is full of colourful 1950s styled pictures and comics. One remark at the beginning says that the whole leader was by Gilbert and that he does not care too much about the correct vocabulary to keep it "authentic".

They may not have the same basic morphological structures, but they are identical to what you would find in a simple - and often strange - e-mail from Gilbert. "A business can't be great by being extraordinary in just one respect - it needs to outdo the competition in every detail, or what Gilbert called the " customs ".

" Every employee must react to customer or colleague telephone and e-mail messages on the same business day. "Customers don't really give a damn how much you know until they know how much you care," Gilbert commented. As Gilbert said, he wanted staff to be able to express themselves when they thought there was a better way to do something and manage to prevent red tape from stifling these notions.

" "That does not mean that every individual thought, query, suggestion inspiration or advice is eventually answered with great praise," Gilbert said, "but that no one should immediately fire it. "With all the impact Gilbert exerts, whether it's supervising an NBA crew or re-inventing Detroit City, he can be a contentious character.

" "There' s no room in our business for the typically arrogant nature of a business," Gilbert commented. Driving silos of crews within a business where coworkers become "others" is poisonous, Gilbert commented. It is important for all members of the group to be conscious that they are working towards the same objectives as part of the same organisation. "Gilbert told in the 1998 Gilbert circulated an enterprise-wide e-mail in which he explains - using liberals and uppercase characters - that Rock Financial (Quicken Loans' initial name) must play a leading role in mortgage provisioning on-line to be successful in the long run.

Gilbert said it was this long-term view that made Quicken Loans the biggest borrower of mortgages in the US. "Gilbert said, "Time, not cash, is the most precious thing of all." "Whether in bringing you closer to your careers or the objectives of your business, using your business as a motivator for your business rather than as a source of income will result in higher salaries and better offers.

The Gilbert used an example of the $3 million investment in new Quicken Loans Arena seating, where the cavs are playing to increase the overall value of the game. Actually, it's usually the opposite, Gilbert reasoned. Adhere to the highest standards of integrity, without compromise," Gilbert commented.