CULTURE DESIGN EQUALS SUCCESS

 

A MOST IMPRESSIVE LEADER

If you haven't heard of Zappo's Shoe company... you will. Not only have they created a multi million dollar business, they have done it primarily on the concept of building "The Ultimate Organizational Culture."  This video offers business leaders such as yourself... evidence to spend time, money, and energy empowering your employees.

I am particularly impressed with their recruiting protocol, the story of the satisfied customer with a terminally ill mother (you may have heard this b4), and the fact that they moved the entire operation from the bay area (technology) to Las Vegas (fun & hospitality culture) simply to enhance their organizational culture.  This is a Culture is Cool HOT PICK !

 

 

Did you know that in 1998, the now Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (shay) sold his company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 Million... he was only 24 years old. Here is a great article that tells his story.

Remember: Employee Engagement =s Increasing Sales. Think about Culture Design as your only competitive advantage. Employees want to work there and customers serve as evangelists! You can make this happen.

 

What are your thoughts on this video... this company... its culture? Let everyone know by clicking the "comments" link below. 

Engage Your Passion,

 

~M

 

 

A MOST IMPRESSIVE LEADER

If you haven't heard of Zappo's Shoe company... you will. Not only have they created a multi million dollar business, they have done it primarily on the concept of building "The Ultimate Organizational Culture."  This video offers business leaders such as yourself... evidence to spend time, money, and energy empowering your employees.

I am particularly impressed with their recruiting protocol, the story of the satisfied customer with a terminally ill mother (you may have heard this b4), and the fact that they moved the entire operation from the bay area (technology) to Las Vegas (fun & hospitality culture) simply to enhance their organizational culture.  This is a Culture is Cool HOT PICK !

 

 

Did you know that in 1998, the now Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh (shay) sold his company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265 Million... he was only 24 years old. Here is a great article that tells his story.

Remember: Employee Engagement =s Increasing Sales. Think about Culture Design as your only competitive advantage. Employees want to work there and customers serve as evangelists! You can make this happen.

 

What are your thoughts on this video... this company... its culture? Let everyone know by clicking the "comments" link below. 

Engage Your Passion,

 

~M

 

In the New World of Business All That Counts is Authenticity

I just returned from giving a presentation to business owners about building their businesses upon their individual Core Values. I spoke at length about the need for their business to be authentic... let's face it, what's more "real" than Core Values.

Then I read Michele Miller's awesome Blog, Wonder Branding on marketing to women where she repeatedly discusses the necessity to express your buisness authentically.

Today she had a quick post with a link to her "girl power" associate, Holly Buchanan.  I absolutely love Holly's Blog post about Dodge and thier macho branding image. Its worth reading in its entirety, just so that you can laugh you ass off to her comparison of mens fragile ego and seemingly primal need to "dangle their balls". 

The entire post references a Dodge commercial that appearantly offers viewes a gay bashing perspective, but Holly's comments hit home with me on Dodges in-ability to stay true to their Core Beliefs.

Their in-ability to back up thier commercial with the same "make no excuses for my desires" mentality, illustrates the very incongruity I was speaking to business owners about earlier today.  This is a great read and awesome post... Thanks Michele/Holly.

High Performance Ritual #3-Focus Rituals (Part 4 of 4)

When was the last time your executive team breathed as one?  Yes, I’m getting a little Zen on you but to proclaim my expertise on rituals and energy management and not discuss processes of breath, visualization, and mindfulness would be a disservice. 

Is Corporate America ready for the “mystical” aspects of human nature? Society is… but society doesn’t base its direction on profit… it bases its direction on trends… which is based on needs. Although there is a trend for Zen like products and services, Corporate America is ready to profit from them, but not actually benefit from them. Give it another 10-15 years and then you’ll see Yoga in the conference room.

This is too bad, because we are talking about the power of focus. Internal experiences have real power and this goes against the hierarchy of traditional command and control business models but plays to the very essence of a Core Values Based model of sense and respond.      

Focus Rituals can be a little delicate to explain or even execute because they are extremely spiritual in nature… thus the mysticism.  On the fray of these rituals are more acceptable applications.

On the softball field, my team and I have a rally cry where we gather in a circle, give each other reinforcement statements, and focus as a group.  When we need to score, make something happen, generate results or sustain our energy, its time to get focused.

We don’t ohm in a circle or clear our minds and become one with the bat, but we engage in essentially the same process.

Peering inside our huddle you’d hear a variety of voices, “keep your energy up”, “hit the ball low and hard”, “we need hits”, “let’s score some runs”… … “one, two, three” and the team shouts, “HITS!”

If you try to establish Focus Rituals on their own without using a Company Culture model of change like that of Ritual Builders©, your staff will see these applications as cheesy and in-authentic.

Although delicate in application, Identity Rituals are extremely powerful and are a fertile seed in the pursuit of high performance.

Example of Focus Rituals

• A moment of group silence where each individual reflects on the positive experiences and feelings that are created by your products/services

• The weekly sales/executive meeting ends with each individual declaring what they will accomplish over the next week

• What’s Good/What’s New… an exercise to start each team meeting where members toss a small ball or hacky sack. If it is tossed to you, you quickly state what is good and what is new then toss to another

• Any kind of activity or process that inspires individual performance

• Any kind of activity or process that manifests “collective thought” or “group mind”

Focus Rituals are a very effective performance tool that your team can use to maximize performance.  Successful sales executives have a pre-appointment ritual or closing ritual.  When performance counts… focus rituals bring clarity to your efforts.

Mark McGuire was fascinating to watch as he prepared for his “at bat”. His eyes would gloss over as he created a stack of thought particles across the screen of his imagination. Immersing and engaging himself among the distinctions that gets results. This is focus... and it creates champions.

Celebration Rituals, Identity Rituals, and Focus Rituals give you an arsenal of power that directly effect teamwork and give you a competitive advantage.  When you improve the human experience of your company culture, your labor force will respond with immediate and positive action.

The Next Generation of Excellence

Everything in business and in life has become so damned complicated.

Even washing your car requires sophisticated loops of technology that simply take my time and energy. With all of the advantages that come with technology, we seemed to have lost our sense of simplicity.

No wonder people don't take your sales calls or want to do business with you... just to comprehend the value you offer takes a significant amount of time and energy... of which people have very little of.

             The Next Generation Of Excellence Is Among Us

The Next Generation Of Excellence consists of those who have developed styles, systems, and protocols of communication with the ability to capture and hold the busy professional's attention. Business has become complex, yet we must remember to keep it simple.

People have a need, problem or desire that they need attended to... the secret is to meet the need, solve the problem, or fullfill the desire quickly and effectively.  Often we get so caught up in our pursuit to strategize and theorize that we forget the very reason people will do business with us.

We meet their needs.

Sometimes beating the competition requires complex strategies and solutions, but let's remember for our customer's sake to keep it simple.

The Authenticity Of A Core Values Business Model

Rituals are powerful. The epitome of communication in action... and like any communication, must stem from foundational intentions that are real. When this process is adopted and integrated, you are engaging in systems that not only attract and retain customers, but inspire and illuminate employees.

Like never before, consumers are surveying the horizon with the ability to ignore sizzle & hype. They look out across the plains of experience, searching for something they know is within their reach... but they have grown immune to outlandish promises and attention grabbing slight of hand communication techniques. Sizzle & hype is so ingrained in our psyche that most business leaders struggle with leaving it behind while in their own lives join the millions who continue to abhor (and ignore) the very techniques they use.

Structuring your business with systems and models that attract customers is not only an indication of intelligence it is also an indication of your desire to stand tall among giants. The business giants of tomorrow aren’t those with billion dollar payrolls but those who will deliver extraordinary value to customers while remaining socially responsible. They will radiate an authenticity that maximizes customer involvement and attracts the talented and insightful as potential employees.

Building Your Business Upon Core Values

One must first build the foundation of your business (and rituals) upon Core Values. I designed the Core Values Business Model™ for those business leaders who yearn to make a difference in the lives of their employees & customers. This model takes us out of the habit of imitating and into an entirely new direction of radiating.

All persuasive and meaningful communication stems from its foundational intentions. Even persuasion experts like Dave Lakhani and Kenrick Cleveland will tell you that the difference between persuasion and manipulation lies in a communicator’s intentions. Meaningful communication that stirs the emotions must come from a foundation of real... and since our businesses communicate on multiple layers through our products, services, personnel, etc. we must build these systems on an authentic foundation. Most consultants and business leaders intuitively attempt this through their “Vision Statement” but without an understanding or commitment to the use of Rituals to reinforce these values, usually don’t see meaningful results. 

This is a small business model, designed for organizations that have one person who makes the decisions. And for those of you who desire the emotional and financial rewards of becoming a Ritual Builder first need to decide on your Core Values as an individual.

These are the values that I will spend the rest of my life integrating into my Grainger Leadership Institute LLC, D/b/a All About Teamwork business systems. These are the values that will attract those that will most value the solutions and services that I provide. There will be many who will not feel these values resonate within... and there will be many who do. I want customers who are predisposed to value my services... who share my core values.

When I work with clients on this business model, they often find themselves in the crux of a spiritual conflict... unsure of their Core Values. This can take several weeks to fully define... but the process in itself makes you a more authentic person who communicates from a foundation of your real beliefs. Not only does this make you a better leader and more persuasive communicator... but it creates around you a bright light that radiates across the horizon as someone who stands for something real. And that will forever remain the most attractive component of the human experience.

Its Getting Harder & Harder To See...

It’s an afternoon when you could use a good sugar buzz and caffeine jolt.  The thought of that effervescent snap and pop inside your mouth causes you to salivate.  Are you reaching for a Pepsi or a Coke?

Maybe you don’t care for soda but the lessons that we can glean from these corporate monsters come at us like ripples in pond.  So let me toss this pebble in  the waters of small business... ...what is your competitive advantage?  What are you doing to separate yourself from your competition?

Communication Is Changing Communication

In the late 80’s and early 90’s it was so much easier to identify your competitive advantage. We didn’t have nation of hyper-connectivity where one could instantly share their opinion with friends across the globe.  Within moments of a customer’s experience with you, a chain reaction of 1000s is set in motion via e-mail, text message and more recently global blogs.

If you say your competitive advantage is customer service, or location or even price, I hope for your sake you have they business and human capital systems to back it up.  Over 88% of small business owners claim customer service as a priority of business, yet less than 10% have written plans that consistently communicate this to their staff as a priority.  Even less have a system of measures to ensure that the customers’ experience mirrors that of their efforts.

Any Claim You Make Not Backed By A System

Spells D-A-N-G-E-R

If you claim anything as a priority to your staff or customers and don’t deliver it, the nature of today’s hyper-connectivity means that the masses are hearing that you don’t mean what you say. They are hearing that you are in-authentic. OUCH! We are in a world of BUZZ that is so over-stimulated with unsubstantiated claims that our hearts are crying for authenticity. Employees are disgruntled and frustrated with their employer’s lip-service and customers no longer believe what you say.... Everyone is looking at what you do.  Business models that specifically design your competitive advantage are quickly becoming the only way to build a sustaining and fruitful enterprise.

The pressures of today’s hyper-connectivity are only slightly outbid by the onslaught of messages about what it means to be successful.  It’s like the anxiety one experiences late at night, on a dark and icy road when your car takes on a life of it’s own, sliding across your lane and into on-coming traffic... ...your life flashes before you and you are forced... ...to deal with the urgent.  Life has become a bundle of emergencies that need our immediate attention at the loss... of what is truly important.

The world of business in the new millennium is forcing your business and mine to be more than cola.  Mainstream is no longer enough for customers to be impressed.  In this GLOBAL economy we have the “Wal Mart factor” to deal with, that ability to choose and to do so at a better price.

The Future of Small Business Lies in the Owners’

Ability to Create and Communicate

a Competitive Advantage.

The best thing one can do today to chart this course, is to set sail for a new horizon of thinking.  We can’t think out of the box, we need to leap into a completely different box.  One from which we can make a paradigm shift.

Your business must become an idea factory, one where you and your staff work in harmony to create a symphonic melody of thought and action.  Most small businesses are full of employees who are caught up in the whirl-wind of urgency. Their lives are simply more important than your outcomes as a business owner.

What a great opportunity to create an environment of authenticity!  As a small business owner you have power in the palms of your hands to shape the lives of your staff.  Are they working a job or building a life?  In their minds... ... what does your company stand for? And what does this have to do with their individual and/or career aspirations?

A wise choice you can make today is to focus on skills and attitudes of your staff.  Wouldn’t it be great to have a staff full of self-initiated go-getters that want to make a difference in the world?

Guess what, everyone wants to make a difference in the world... but they must be given a vehicle that allows that expression to become a part of their everyday experience.

Your execution of developing in them the skills & attitudes that create a dynamic company culture and high performance team synergy will illustrate to everyone within your organization that the tools for change and improvement are right in their newly tailored job descriptions.

The time has come for your business to be designed to make this world a better place.  If you think you have already established this with your business, take a moment to look at your staff... ...how motivated are they by your vision?

The world is changing faster than we are, and if you create a home for the hearts of your customers and staff, you will have the biggest competitive advantage of them all.  TEAMWORK!

If this post inspires you, check out my website @ www.AllAboutTeamwork.com... Where you can learn to... “Boost Profits... Using Teamwork as your Competitive Advantage.”

The 5 Mandatory Conditions of High Performance Teams

                        

I love team sports... the competition... the execution... the blood, sweat and tears. There is very little in this world as satisfying as a team struggling through toil and effort to find themselves on the other side... VICTORIOUS.

When you watch a Super Bowl caliber team, you can see their strengths, commitments, focus and determination... what most people don’t see is the quality relationships among teammates.

If you are a weekend warrior football, baseball or basketball athlete and consistently play on a regular team, you’ve experienced that connection... Now imagine how strong those emotions would be when your life long dream of becoming a Super Bowl Champion is within your grasp.

Obtaining High Performance

As I layout for you the 5 Mandatory Conditions of High Performance Teams, notice how prevalent these are in sports teams, but how much they lack in business teams... probably even yours.

1.      KNOW, LIVE, & SEE THE SAME PURPOSE: How do the individual parts fit together to form a synergy of action... everyone must know how their role is significant to the outcome of the team? Advanced teams have members that intuitively know how to maximize the team’s results by synergizing their efforts among each other... thus, Team Synergy.

2.      KNOW, POSSESS OR OBTAIN THE NECESSARY INDIVIDUAL SKILLS: What are the necessary steps, what order are they in, and when must they happen for us to achieve our purpose? What do I need to learn to execute this to the highest degree?

3.      EVERYONE MUST REPLACE PERSONAL COMFORT WITH HARD WORK: When each team member recognizes, acknowledges, and commits to the discomfort of high performance, the team will begin to accelerate toward accomplishing their purpose.

4.      EACH TEAM MEMBER MUST COMMIT TO WORK TOGETHER: With this type of commitment, there is no room for personality conflicts, personal differences are put aside for the good of the team. Individual members find a way to commit and take the necessary actions to work together. NO EXCUSES!

5.      ACCOUNTABILITY TO PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: Members hold themselves and each other accountable to a higher level of performance.  If this level of performance is not met, someone else will be given the opportunity to meet or beat these expectations.

When possible make everyone feel like they are an MVP.  Give praise publicly, in front of their colleagues and give constructive criticism in private. Acknowledge the risk takers’ decisions boldly and publicly when their decisions are right and support team philosophies. Give leaders the opportunity to teach and mentor their up and coming colleagues.

Motivating a group of talented individuals to become a high performance team is a teachable and learn able skill. Give yourself permission to take a few years to learn the subtleties that make a significant difference. You may not yet know how to implement any of the 5 Mandatory Conditions of High Performance Teams, but  with continued study and observation will find the distinctions that builds champions.

Humanistic... Or Mechanistic? (Part 1)

Employees burn out and check out when their daily lives are about “Feeding the Machine”. 

“The Machine” is a perfect metaphor for the way executives have been looking at business.  Generating profit is what the machine is built to do.  You see a machine finds efficiency in the perfect execution of order and in an effort to meet the demands of shareholders and our entrepreneurial aspirations; we’ve mechanized the process of business.

This model was ideal in the late 80’s and early 90’s when it allowed us to use technology as a means to capitalize on an emerging global market.  However we are entering a tail spin where “The Machine” has created a sociological quandary in which the humanistic pieces are wound way too tight.  Businesses are living, breathing entities... with an identity and a soul. Innately business... is about people and the lives that they lead.  Individuals function most effectively when money isn’t even involved. The concept of profit is basically mechanical and remains an enigma to even the most motivated and successful VP who, like the janitor, is over-mortgaged and stressed with credit card dept. 

Money and profit is a mechanistic concept perpetuated by those that operate the machine as a mechanism for power, and control.  Although we remain under the ether and at the mercy of “The Matrix”... for the first time, we collectively comprehend that it truly exists. It is within this comprehension that a social change is taking place within the consciousness of the labor force.

A Sociological Quandary

We know we  are stuck... in order to “live life” we have a two income family so that we can live in the neighborhood, drive the vehicles, belong to the social groups we desire and on Monday start our week, once again... feeding "The Machine." It’s a seemingly endless cycle that is eating away at the souls of Americans and they are starting to get fed up. They’re asking themselves the question... is this all there is to life? ...and deep down they recognize the answer...  is NO.

Business is about profit.  And while that remains a constant, it also remains a significant problem. What’s in it for me... employees ask?

I don't think that anyone questions the purpose behind any professional development program should be about acquiring the very skills that allow your team to produce more and better results... in other words... INCREASE PROFIT.

Yet so few organizations invest in "business design" training that allow the skills of their labor-force to go from theory to application.  Some organizations get it... most do not. Through the development of better people comes better organizations... better business. We must become more mindful of the complexities of human development and how to infuse this into our corporate mandates of professional development training.

Better Business & Social Responsibility

Professional development is an awesome industry... evolving in its own right to a level of pushing individuals beyond "career success" to pursue and mature personally and spiritually as well.

In reality I see the "improvement movement" becoming a "spiritual movement". This makes sense because deep down each and everyone of us are spiritually starved; eventually  realizing that life becomes a journey of defining for ourselves... this spiritual path. What would happen if organizations became a conduit for pursuing this path with intention?

The Global market place is an optimal space for small business to capitalize on this most authentic of human needs.  Professional development is becoming a mandatory component of business success but my experiences dictates that small and big business is missing the fundamental opportunity within professional development training to ignite the lives and careers of their labor force.  Passion and purpose is not only the missing component of most organizations(because they're mechanical)... it is also the missing component of our lives(because we are so influenced by the organizations within our lives).

There are two reasons this single distinction can revolutionize company culture... a culture poised for peak performance and profit. 

These will be the discussion of tomorrow's post... until then... let your mind & heart explore the far reaching benefits of professional development to business, society, and the individual lives of those who live within them.