Trevor Crist believes that success is connected with action, and the 32-year-old chief operating officer of Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance is proud that he doesn’t just talk about what he wants to do someday – he does it.
“Whether it was renovating a historic building downtown, donating a technology center to my childhood elementary school, partnering in three restaurants or manufacturing Griswold-style moose mugs overseas, I will never have to look back and say, ‘I wish I had done those things,’” he says.
At Nixon & Lindstrom, he leads marketing and recruiting activities, manages $38 million in annual production and facilitates growth and acquisition opportunities. He also is a partner in Fedora Social House and Parlor 88 restaurants. His community roles include serving as chairman of the Greater Ozarks Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Crist extends his desire for action and accomplishment to his management style at work and in his volunteer leadership commitments.
“I strive to lead as a transformational – or sometimes known as servant – leader, which focuses on empowering others,” Crist says. “I believe that when people feel appreciated and respected they are then free to do great things, and most importantly, feel like part of the process.”
At Nixon & Lindstrom, that approach has helped empower others, Crist says.
“By putting others in a position to succeed and be recognized, it gives them confidence, a learning experience, and helps our agency to understand the leaders it has in its ranks,” he says. “The result has been the formation of very successful committees including (information technology), recognition and social media, and several others led by employees and supported by everyone.”
Among his community endeavors, Crist is particularly proud of his role in coordinating and donating a technology center project to Eugene Field Elementary School in Webb City.
“It has always been a goal to give back to a school that gave me so much, and to remind others to do so as well,” Crist says. “In a grant request submitted to the foundation of a local retailer, I challenged that I would double a donation made by their organization to develop a technology center within the school’s library and establish technology as an ongoing focus of the institution.”
After more than a year of planning and preparation, Crist says the technology center was dedicated earlier this year.
Crist, a Leadership Springfield graduate, also is serving as treasurer for a Missouri House of Representatives’ campaign in the newly formed 134th district and is active with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, such as with its Health Insurance Task Force and Business After Hours committee. Other roles have been with Rotaract and as chapter adviser for the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity at Missouri State University.
Click here for full coverage of the 2012 40 Under 40.[[In-content Ad]]
