Faces of Leeds

CEO of The Papé Group

Jordan Papé is CEO of The Papé Group. The fourth generation Papé to lead the organization, he manages a diverse portfolio of equipment dealerships representing John Deere, Kenworth, Hyster-Yale, and Ditch Witch throughout the West. His focus is to utilize the company's unique array of manufacturing relationships to support their customers as they bring natural resources through production and on to market. In hopes of helping other Leeds students and leaders succeed, he’s passing along valuable advice from his business experiences.

Papé’s first kernel of wisdom: Network. Despite being an honors student with excellent grades, a lack of business internships meant Papé found himself at a loss when trying to land his first job offer and plan for life after graduation. He was grateful when a CU connection, returning to campus as a recruiter, recommended his hire as an investment banking analyst. He traces his career path back to the relationships he built while at Leeds, and he says the importance that one connection can have on a person’s professional trajectory still amazes him.

Creating a vision is another step to success that Papé suggests, particularly for business leaders. He believes that the best leaders don’t inspire a result—they inspire a vision that others can believe in and work toward. Having a vision in place means that talented people can work together toward a common goal. For Papé, this often means that teams will exceed expectations and find unexpected solutions, which open up new opportunities.

A piece of advice Papé has that pertains to all areas of life is to surround yourself with people who are more capable than you. He’s found that relying on others’ expertise and consciously delegating responsibility means that team members will be challenged to submit their best work.

“It never ceases to amaze me how many really smart leaders insist on being right all of the time,” said Papé. “And, while they may be very capable, they are likely not experts in every field. This means that, in almost every setting, other members of your team are experts in areas that you are not.”

Instead of giving orders, which Papé says will lead to team members becoming uninspired and shutting down, he suggests that leaders admit to their own limits and lean on their team members’ skills and knowledge. Does this mean failure could occur? Occasionally, but he believes that far more often the team will succeed and allow an organization to grow beyond the possibilities of a single leader’s time and mental capacity.

Imparting a final business insight, Papé says that teams should be allowed the space to fail and to learn from the result. Fear of punishment or losing one’s job can mean team members have an aversion to trying new things, leaving many companies doing things ‘the way they’ve always been done.’ But he believes true leaders support their teams and encourage growth and learning opportunities, including in times of failure.

“This way, everyone learns that they have the space to try big ideas and gain the benefit of learning from both the successes and the failures,” said Papé. “As that knowledge spreads, others will learn and perfect their own paths forward—allowing for greater successes and learning moments that can be shared.”