From Residency Classroom to the Corporate Office

Business Model Developed at IWU Transforms Company’s Accounting Department

Last year, an accounting team at a trucking company started turning heads, and it wasn’t because of their skill with a calculator or tax knowledge. It was because one leader decided to make a series of small changes.

Ethan Slaughter is a driven professional. After earning his bachelor’s in Accounting from Missouri State University, he almost immediately started his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) program, graduating the subsequent year and eventually earning his CPA license. In the summer of 2019, he was recruited to be a controller for a long-haul trucking business, where he currently works and manages a team of accountants.

“When I started as a controller, I was way out of my league. I really struggled. I couldn’t identify with these people; it was something I wasn’t used to,” Ethan said. “There just was a lack of trust between myself and the people I was working with. I was pretty sure I made a fatal mistake in my career.”

Just a few months into his new role, Ethan started the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at IWU where he was introduced to a concept that caught his attention: the Virtuous Business Model.

“I’ve seen a lot of leadership philosophies in my studies over the years, but when Dr. Boyce spoke about the Virtuous Business Model, I thought this one was different,” Ethan said. “I started with character and integrity. I challenged myself in these areas as well and really went through a period of self-discovery. As I started making headway with people, building trust, I thought, ‘If this is working for me, it will work for other people.’”

He dove right in. With his employees’ semi-annual review coming up, he had the perfect opportunity to introduce this to his team. Initially, they didn’t completely buy it. But Ethan reiterated: this is the most important thing we’ll be working on over the next six months.

About two months in, a coworker stopped by from another department to share that he’d noticed a shift in the energy of Ethan’s office and was interested in joining Ethan’s team.

“At first, I didn’t think much of it. But then it kept happening. Other employees, directors, and executive team members would come in and say how much better we’re working with people and how our energy has changed.”

Eventually, the organization’s president heard about the waves Ethan’s leadership model was making and asked Ethan to present at the upcoming executive retreat. As he prepared for this presentation, he began to dive even deeper into how this business model worked so well.

“When you envision a leader, you think of those TV and movie personalities where they are larger than life, often wearing physical or emotional armor. But as a leader, that isn’t sustainable. People don’t follow people who wear armor long-term. I became most effective when I set all that armor aside.”

Ethan is currently coaching several executives in the Virtuous Business Model, and his office has become an organizational example of what a strong team looks like.

“I’ve become an effective leader because of this practice. It’s turned into my passion. “

Written by Hannah Hood ‘19