When Jeff Simmons isn’t steering animal-health giant Elanco, he’s focused on a different kind of leadership challenge: raising six kids.
“We have family meetings every Sunday,” Simmons told Business Insider.
Those check-ins double as career-coaching lessons. With some of their children already in the workforce, Simmons said he and his wife are consistently coaching their kids.
The CEO’s core message is straightforward: “Find your ‘why.'”
One of his sons has already put that advice into action, leaving a broadcasting job in Lexington, Kentucky, to pursue a path as a pastor.
Simmons said it took him 13 years to uncover his own sense of purpose, and “everything changed” once he did. Simmons described coming across a desperate father and his two daughters who hadn’t eaten in two days. He says it was a defining moment that “wrecked him” and made him realize his purpose.
“It unlocked something in me. My ‘why’ is hungry,” the CEO said, adding that he’s passionate about about solving food insecurity and also drawn to the mindset of a hungry leader.
Simmons, who has been with Elanco for over three decades, has centered his life around that passion. The company is focused on changing animal care through innovation and helping farmers improve animal health while reducing their environmental footprint. Roughly a decade ago, Simmons founded Hatch for Hunger, an organization that delivers protein-rich meals to those in need.
The nonprofit is about to hit 100 million meals given this year, an Elanco spokesperson told Business Insider. To fuel his drive to help leaders, he also serves as the chairman of EDGE Mentoring, a mentoring organization.
Simmons said he loves “hungry leaders,” and when he sees that trait in someone else, it evokes an emotional response in him.
“When somebody finds their ‘why,’ they will go places they couldn’t imagine going,” Simmons said.
Work ethic and manners matter
In addition to teaching his kids to find what motivates them, Simmons said he believes in the power of working hard. He said his family even had a bumper sticker last year that said: “We can do hard things.”
The CEO said that while many students may work during college, they aren’t prepared for the stamina required to handle a 14-hour workday or the greater demands of navigating a full-time job.
Simmons said he teaches his kids that there’s “power in the ability to work,” and that the first five years on the job can make a difference in your career. Simmons said his son, who recently graduated from college and works in Dallas, told him that a number of his friends who graduated in May have already quit their jobs.
“His playback to me, and I agree with, is they didn’t learn the muscle of work,” Simmons said.
That mindset also shapes his view on showing up in person early on in your career. While the CEO encourages flexibility in the workplace, he said entry-level employees should “no question, be in the office,” if they have the option to be.
He and his wife also constantly preach the importance of what he refers to as basic social “hygiene,” like sending thank-you notes.
“I think the basics can be forgotten,” Simmons said.
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