Goldman Sachs...Perception vs. Reality

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well. Happy February! 

Posted a link to an article I read a few months back, but I'd love to share. Last month we spoke about how to build a culture. A former employee of Goldman Sachs came out last year with a scathing opEd in the New York Times about the company. I've attached both his article and the response from the Executive Vice President of Human Capital.

So tell me guys, who's right here? Perception vs. Reality is a time old struggle...here it is again. Fire away in the comments section!

Greg Smith OpEd, NY Times

Goldman Sachs Responds (Video)

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

The Seats on the Bus...Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

4. Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

Don't take the gauntlet literally...it won't end well

They say patience is a virtue for a reason. Virtues are hard earned, but well deserved. Patience in your selection process is so crucial for a myriad of reasons, starting with the mighty dollar. According to an AARP study, the cost of replacing an experienced worker is at least 50% of that person’s base salary in turnover related costs. According to a study at Berkeley, the hiring of a new recruit alone will cost about $7000. Links to both articles are posted below. If you’d like to look at how much it will cost to replace an employee at your organization, Express scripts has a cool calculator you can use as well. Their link is below as well.

• AARP on Turnover
• Berkeley on Turnover
• Turnover calculator

Long story short, it’s not cheap to replace someone, so you want to keep your talent once you select them. That in mind, your process should not be a rapid fire, one and done type of interview. Your HR team is talented I’m sure, but they should not be the final say on whether someone moves forward or not. You need to paint a full picture of the kind of candidate you want, but as a selecting manager you should be actively involved in the process from start to finish. The process itself, for you strategists out there, should touch every aspect of the organization. You want individuals that not only have the requisite skills to do the job; you also want individuals who can fit into the culture you are trying to build. This is why it’s so important to define your values and the behaviors you believe reflect them early in your company’s life cycle, because behavioral and cultural style interviewing is crucial in garnering the right fit for a team.

The selection process should touch HR, the selecting department, and whichever departments the role is to interface with. It sounds a like a lot, and the recruiter side of me is screaming “hurry up! We have requisitions to fill”, but you don’t want to get this wrong. It’s too easy to do it, so take your time. If you’re going to implement this strategy, you need to earn buy-in from all the parties we mentioned. It’s not a haphazard process to ask people to give up an hour of their day every few weeks or so to sit with a candidate that won’t even be in their department. Remember to be a creator of value when you are asking someone to sacrifice their time for you. You are letting them know you value them as a partner, but that you also want to get this right for everyone’s sake.

Once you’ve communicated the importance and you have the buy-in, everyone needs to be speaking the same language. Interview training is a rarity within smaller companies today, and for larger practices it’s not widely practiced within a department. Take the time to either partner with HR or a member of your team that’s well versed in the legal and behavioral intricacies of talent selection to build and host these trainings. If you put a bunch of people in a room and just tell them to ask questions they’ll do it, and they’ll all be looking for different things. Create the expectation of what to look for, and your team will take that expectation and make sure it aligns with their own personal expectations. Once we get this process in place, we’re ready to get cooking.

So long recruiter, hello in house system!

The selection process is not easy at any level. Your entry level positions many times get overlooked because they don’t command the salary of a C suite, but trust me, they will affect your bottom line too. One paper cut doesn’t hurt, but ten or fifteen and you’re regretting the day you asked for more stationary in your office. If you don’t have integrity to the systems that permeate every level of your organization’s talent management strategy, you’re going to have too many of those bad hires and not enough good selections. Be deliberate, involve the right people, don’t settle, and look at what you needed, want, and will need and want. Say goodbye to those recruiters, and hello to your new talent management system! Enjoy!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

The Seats on the Bus...Right Bus, Right Seat

Hi all,

Keeping with our theme of talent selection, let's just jump right back into where we left off...

2. Right Bus, Right Seat

This...never works

This is a hard one for employers. We see dynamite candidates with such unique skill sets that they could do anything, and we salivate, especially in this job market. “We have to pounce on this person, or they’ll get swept up by a competitor”, you think to yourself. When this happens, you start strategizing with your team, thinking where you can fit them in so you don’t miss out on the candidate. There’s something to be said about seizing an opportunity, but there’s also an old adage about trying to fit a square peg into a round hole…it doesn’t work.

Too often as employers, we are guilty of thinking that a candidate with specific skills can fit into the box that is our organization, even though we don’t have the right role for them at the current moment. We don’t know what the ideal role would be, we don’t take the time to find out or craft it, and so we make sure we offer just to ensure we don’t lose him/her. What you’ve done here if you’re guilty of this, and many of us are, is do a disservice to both the organization and the newest member of the team. When you think someone will be a great fit for your company, you have to remember why you think that: because that skill set and attitude will be a game changer. You have to let that skill set and attitude flourish in the right role, or you just filled a requisition with a body, albeit a talented one. With that in mind, placing a candidate just to keep him/her will often result in you not getting the optimal performance you expected, and your new selection being dissatisfied with the work and the company.

People will be who you want them to be..don't settle

In today’s job market, many people will take any job they can get, and that involves sacrificing their personal passion to earn a paycheck. While there is nothing wrong with this in theory, we have to be weary of feeding into this. The survivor mentality is admirable, but no one wins here. You will get performance, but once the lore of having a job again wears off, employees are human, and they will get restless. “I’m not being used properly. I can do more”. This is wonderful to hear, because they want to grow.  But it will fester and become discontent after a while. Discontent breeds attrition, and attrition affects morale and performance. Not the ideal situation we planned for. But we could have avoided this in the first place if we had held true to our principles. Put the right person in the right seat, and the bus that is your organization runs with little turbulence. Start fitting square pegs into round holes, and watch out for morale issues, performance issues, and real questions about the integrity of your talent selection process from candidates and employees themselves.

Alright guys! Almost there! 2 more and we're through our talent selection conversation. I hope this has been helpful. Stay warm!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

The Seats on the Bus...Past, Present, Future

Hi all, 

Picking up from where we left off, we begin discussing talent selection strategies. I gave you four different areas we'll talk about that will help you bring in the talent you need as an organization. They were:

1. Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future
2. Right Bus, Right Seat
3. "Involve me, I will understand"
4. Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future

Remember what you need that past performers couldn't deliver

When we look to bring on new talent, there’s obviously a myriad of reasons as to why. Usually it’s that you’ve lost or promoted good talent, gotten rid of an underperformer, or saw a need for a new position. Regardless, when you look to select someone to fill a role, we’re always thinking about what the past person didn’t have or didn’t do. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. You should always be looking to fill gaps with new talent, because you don’t want a repeat of the last person, even if they were good. If you want the same exact thing you had before, it means you’re content with the status quo. Greatness is always about taking the next step, and so you should start your search thinking about what you needed that would have helped you back then. However, understand that this is just one piece of the puzzle.

Hire for what challenges you face today

Present wants should build on past needs. It’s not just what you needed to have someone be successful in the role that wasn’t present, but also what you will want in order to meet today’s challenges. Remember that whatever obstacles you faced in year one of your company are different (at least you hope so) than what you’re facing in year five. Even if the obstacles haven’t changed, the present wants and past needs are aligned but are not the same, because the issues have compounded. When you look to bring in new talent, build a checklist of the challenges your current landscape or climate are presenting you with, and what traits or skills you want the person to have that will help you meet them.

Select for the future! Foresight never hurt anyone

Once you’ve built a set of past needs and present wants, it’s time to get back in your Dolorien (Back to the Future reference if you missed it…it was the time machine), and start looking forward. The gift of foresight is not easy to master, but it isn’t impossible to paint a picture of what the future looks like either. You had to do it for your organization’s vision, values, and culture, why not the people and roles you need to execute? One of the issues that may have caused this need for talent is you did not foresee the challenges that would come as the role and or the company began to evolve. I have personally seen this happen in some organizations, where someone is brought in to do a specific role, but a change in company direction, for whatever reason, puts the employee in a situation where they are completely under prepared for the task at hand. You need the right person at that point, and the current employee just won’t cut it, so you make a change. You cannot be an oracle and nail it on the head of course, but knowing what you want your company to be, what you want to role in its final form to look like, and what expectations you have for the highest performer you could ever ask to take the role will help you in your search. Keep in mind, the future may be now for the position, meaning the present wants and needs of the past may be exactly what the future needs and wants are. If that’s the case, you’re set. In any case, try your best when thinking about a role to give some time to what it should look like 3-5 years from now. At worst case, you’re incorrect, but at least you prepared a path and could communicate that expectation to new talent, so they know what they’re getting themselves into. Not a bad concession at all. 

Below is a basic example of a hire table for an executive assistant:

Past Needs	Present Wants	Future wants and needs
Able to file efficiently/stay organized	Good phone etiquette/prompt follow up	Manage up, hold CEO accountable to commitments
Computer savvy	Manage schedule effectively	Executive brand integrity

Just some things to think about as you look at the role. You've got to know what you want before you ask for it. Expectations pave the way for accountability and growth. 

We'll get to the the rest of the points in our next chat. 

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change
~AI 

The Seats on the Bus...(Part 1)

Happy new year all! I hope everyone is doing well. Excited to talk about the next area that really will drive your organization: the people. This will be a 4 part series, because each part of this is so critical in order to get the team you need to help you drive that vision. So let's get to it!

Once you start to lay the infrastructure for what your organization to look like, it’s a good time to pat yourself on the back. A compelling vision, a strong set of core values, and the expectations of the cultural landscape you intend to implement are all difficult tasks to accomplish. Ultimately though, all of this is theory. These are all the words that have been spoken by the executive team and their leader. In order for these words to translate into works, we need individuals that not only feel the same way, but can execute in step with this infrastructure. In short, linking theory to practice, the time old struggle between good and great anything, will be your greatest challenge. So where do we start in order to ensure we can bridge this gap? You got it: Talent selection.

How do we select the right talent? If there was a perfect science that was easily implemented, we’d never have to worry about our organization’s health. Why? Because the right employees do three major things for your company: they perform their jobs at a suitable level, they either establish themselves as depth in your leadership pool or groom you potential leaders, and they affect your bottom line and your culture because of it. That being said, I think all of us can raise our hands when I ask how many of you are lacking these people in our organizations. Lacking doesn’t mean you don’t have the talent, because some of your people are doing this. It’s just that not enough people fit this bill…and you can never have enough of the “right employees”.

So now, let’s get back to our question of how to select the right talent. From my experiences, I see four overlapping concepts that will steer you in the right direction when it comes to selecting the right people:

1. Remember the Past, Want the Present, Plan the Future
2. Right Bus, Right Seat
3. "Involve me, I will understand"
4. Build the gauntlet, trust the gauntlet

We have a unique opportunity through this process to select talent that can transform our organizations. It takes a little faith, a little luck, and a whole lot of integrity to make it work. Happy reading!

Be inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Culture: The Warm and Fuzzy Fallacy (Part 2)

Ok everyone. Happy holidays! I hope you enjoyed some time away from the office. We all need it.

Last time we spoke I was talking about culture, the myths associated with it, and which components of the employee experience shape the culture. It isn't just the warm and fuzzy, the fun and outgoing. It is cold, hard business morality and ethics and that drive a culture. To recap quickly, these are the 5 areas we look at in defining the employee experience:

1. Interpersonal interactions (peer to peer)
2. Supervisor-employee interactions
3. Work load
4. Work ethic
5. Work environment

We went through the first two, so we'll pick back up on number three.

Mission Impossible

3. Work load

The work that you expect of your team plays a role in the experience they have when they work with you. It sounds simple enough. Tell them what you want them to do, and they'll do it. How hard could it be? As we're seeing more and more, it can be very difficult to do this, and that creates a strain on the employee, and on you. If the parameters of a role are not clearly outlined at the time of selection, you put your employee in a sticky situation. What am I supposed to work on? What is time sensitive, and what is a "nice to have"? Do they really know what they expect of me? These are all the questions you get when your first stab at laying expectations goes sideways. Without clarity, the work load becomes frustrating, because your team doesn't know what the work load actually is. The work is important, but it can't be qualified by the manager, so how can he/she expect the employee to qualify it. I've heard from managers before the saying "just put something in front of me and I'll tell you if it's good". You get an employee working as hard as he/she can only to be told "this isn't what I wanted". That's crushing, demoralizing, and it's easier too. There's almost nothing worse than being blind in a fight and being expected to still win. We can all say what it doesn't look like, but can we say what it should look like? Give an employee the blueprint, and expect success. Send them in blind, and you create an experience of frustration and inadequacy... not exactly a culture builder

On the opposite side of this, sometimes the work is clearly defined, but it's just impossible to accomplish. Setting unrealistic expectations can be just as frustrating as unclear expectations. You can see some employees putting in 75-80 hour weeks, and still not getting the job done. Usually that's not a case of them not being intelligent, but rather the task is so daunting that the manager couldn't do it him/herself. Law firms get a bad rap for the hours they have their associates work in the first few years out of school. They have to hit a certain number of billable hours to know that they are contributing value to the firm. Some weeks it can be done, others it can't. But if you put an employee in a situation where the failure rate is higher than the success rate, expect them to fail, and expect them to leave. With workload, you need to strike the right balance in order to maximize your talent. Give expectations that are clear and attainable, but also will drive the business, and give your employee the keys. We have to say with conviction we've given our team every chance to succeed if we expect them to. Do your part, and it creates an experience and a culture of success, accomplishment, and accountability.

We all have one of these guys...

4. Work Ethic

This is a simple one to talk about. Look at the work ethic of your team. Do you see them "burning the midnight oil"? How often? Are they efficient? Are they innovative? Are they 9-5er's every day, who always complain there aren't enough hours in the day, but take an hour lunch daily and vacation once a month? Usually, your results will give you the barometer on this topic. You don't want to promote slave labor, but you also don't want slouches either. Keep a close on eye on the team around you. Motivated individuals find ways to get the job done if they're set up for success. Sometimes they get it done in spite of your own ineptitude as a leader to set them up for success...just don't make the latter the status quo or they'll leave you for greener pastures. 

How hard your employees work will tell you a lot about the experience they are having at the company. Motivated employees have some reason to be invested. Maybe it's your compelling vision, your core values, the work they're doing, or maybe it's who they are. In any case, their work ethic sets the bar for other employees and new selections, who will see quickly that this is the pace we work at, and you need to be with us or you won't last long. It helps you create culture of expectation, but one of personal accountability as well. 

A glimpse into Google's headquarters...must be nice!

5. Work environment

Remember, people are at work and with their work family more than they are at home these days. It's just a fact of life. That being said, the environment you create in the workplace is something that can keep people feeling satisfied, or one that can set them off on a tough day. The environment is all about the smell, feel, sight, and general appeal to your senses. You can affect this! 

Think about the work spaces everyone has. Do you give them so many documents and folders and files that they need a full desk and file cabinets, but you only give them a cube? Do you flirt with breaking fire code after every new selection joins the team? Is there anywhere for them to relax in the office? Does the bathroom work? These sound like stupid questions, but you'd be surprised how many people consider some of these things minor details because they have a business to run. Be intentional about how you build in work spaces. Dreamworks did an amazing job with this. Here's the link below:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2012/08/07/steelcase-ceo-on-how-office-layout-impacts-corporate-culture/

Google is one of the smartest places when it comes to creating work life balance through a healthy work place. They provide on site entertainment, meals, nap spaces, etc. While I know that not all of us are working for 500 million dollar companies, we can take this vision and scale it back. At a place I worked, it was only a 1600-2000 sq ft suite, we had a break room that people used for all sorts of things: chatting in the morning, naps, meetings. We also did a grocery run every week. Our assistant would order within her allotted budget and get snacks everyone liked and could pick from. We used to count down to Monday's at 10am when Freshy D's would come through the door! It was a little perk, but it made working in a cube bearable, because the company showed in different ways it cared for us. Create an employee-centric culture with little perks to show you appreciate your team...it can go a long way in shaping their experience.

Culture, as you can hopefully see from our conversation, is a real thing. It is tangible, but only if you make it that way. The biggest challenge in any organization is making the things that can elevate you go from theory to practice. The difference between the Googles, Apples, and Zappos! of the world is merely that they invested in culture, and realized that the investment was just that...an investment. It would take time to reap dividends, but the dividends would be worth it in the fullness of time. As a society we have become so instant gratification oriented, and that's attributed to the economic climate and the age of technology we are in. We have allowed this to translate to business, and we are seeing negative results. Rome was not built in a day. Cultural change, as told to me by the Director of Training for the Ritz Carlton, can take 7-10 years to permeate every aspect of your company. That's not happening overnight! Be patient, stay the course, and keep the integrity of your systems and principles in tact. You will see the results, and your change will last.

One more holiday to go, and we're back full speed ahead. Blessed new year to all, and to all a good night!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

Culture: The Warm and Fuzzy Fallacy (Part 1)

Culture culture culture. It's another buzz concept in business, right up there with core values. Everyone either wants it, or touts that they have it and tries to prove it. Even more so, everyone that says they have a culture thinks it's because they do fun things with their employees, like scavenger hunts and other little games. Culture is more than the warm and fuzzy that people make it out to be. It is a living, breathing tool that can either push your company out above the pack, or one that can leave you mired in mediocrity. Regardless if they say they have a culture or not, the chances are they do have a culture, but it's one that's been created in spite of their efforts to control it, not because of them.With that in mind, we need to get to the heart of how culture is formed, in order to understand how to use it to be your strength, not your crutch.

Company culture is formed one of two ways: intentionally or unintentionally. If you're going to talk about culture, you've got to be able to define it first. Culture, as defined by a mentor of mine, is the context in which the organization occurs for individuals within the company. Now, not to get all metaphysical on you, but how does an organization occur for someone? A lot of it comes back to the experience itself. An experience is formed by the following areas:

1. Interpersonal interactions (peer to peer)
2. Supervisor-employee interactions
3. Work load
4. Work ethic
5. Work environment/conditions

Let's talk about all these different areas, and how they affect the experience that creates the culture within the organization.

1. Interpersonal Interactions (peer to peer) 

How your employees treat one another is a big deal when it comes to shaping an employee experience. If you want people to feel they work in a company that promotes team first, not me first, lateral conversations will be the first indicator of how often that is happening. Remember that this starts at the top, so team C suite, step your game up. Are you communicating with your peers in a respectful manner? Respectfully doesn't just mean being cordial, but also having disagreements in a healthy way. Healthy, meaning you don't get upset and storm out of the room when you're not seeing eye to eye. Healthy, meaning you know there's a line that you can't cross, and so you never cross it. Can you laugh and joke, and yet at the same time be professional when the time calls for it? 

These are all major indicators of the interpersonal experience you create for your workplace. Respectful dialogue is so often overlooked, because it seems so self explanatory, that everyone should do it. The key word is should. I have been in executive meeting rooms where people just say whatever comes to mind, respectful or not. Don't forget, everyone is a person, with lines and barriers that you don't cross, and if you do, realize that you could destroy the relationship for good. If you want a culture where your employees respect each other, make sure your executives do first. Secondly, if you want to be extra careful, think about a little document titled "conditions of communication and satisfaction". Create accountability through clarity, and people will know where the line is...you spelled it out for them!

These days are over!

2. Supervisor-Employee Interactions

On one hand, how lateral conversations between peers take place will tell you a lot about the culture you're creating. However, another relationship goes an even longer way in defining what your culture looks like, because it has to exist in order to create some form of organizational hierarchy: supervisor-employee. This relationship is time old in existence, and sometimes time old in practice. Supervisor right, employee wrong. Supervisor good, employee bad. Even when the shoe is on the other foot in reality, it really isn't. Why? Because he/she is the boss, and the other guy isn't. I'm here to tell you today that if you live by this mantra, your best talent will leave you in a heartbeat, and your culture will be one of fear, not respect.

Supervisors, the time of always being right is over. With a generation of young thinkers joining the workforce, we have to be mindful of what they bring to the table and what they are capable of in the long run. Nurture, not nature. Coach, not reprimand. Expect that employees will make mistakes. Supervisors, you do too. This is human nature. How supervisors handle failure will go a long way in determining who stays and who goes. The transformational concept of correcting and learning from mistakes is really not so transformational. Simply put, do not let your team be afraid to fail. Failure is not acceptable, and must be corrected, but failure does not mean you are dead in the water and should look for a new job. Supervisors used to be able to get away with berating their employees, talking down to their employees, and looking at them as second class citizens. If you want to develop a workforce and a relationship with your team, where they will run through walls for you, then encourage them in spite of their failures. How you treat them when they're at their worst will determine if you'll always get their best. Culture forms from these interactions more than almost any other, because it is the most natural of relationships. Get this right, and your chances to get your culture right exponentially increase. 

Alright everyone. Well this is a pretty big topic, so we're going to split it up over two or three posts. It's holiday season, so stay warm, eat well, and laugh a lot!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!
~AI

Core Who? (Part 2)

Hi all,

We're picking back up from our last conversation about core values, and I left you on 

the edge of your seats! So let's jump back into it.

3.       No thesaurus necessary, please

Many organizations, with the intent to “distinguish” themselves from other companies, use big, intricate words to define their values. Forthrightness or constancy sound like a wonderful values, but so do integrity, honesty, or candor…and all five of those words mean about the same thing, but only three of them fit on one line without overtaking the entire page, and can be understood by the common man. Your values need to be relatable to every employee, the C suite all the way down to the custodian. If someone cannot identify with a core value, then don’t be frustrated when you don’t see it being lived! Simplicity speaks louder than anything complexity could write. So keep it simple smarty!

4.       Intangible values need tangible foundations

The number one problem with core values is that once you create them, you think it’s over. Everyone saw the words, heard our lecture on why they’re important, and so let’s see them in action. This does not work. If you want to see your values lived in a certain way, then give your values the life you want them to live! Create behaviors that identify with your values. Show your people what you believe it to mean when you ask them to live the value. We are in a world that wants to analyze everything, and there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t send your guy to a gun fight with a knife. Give them all the tools they need to be successful. If you want to rate your team on how they live their core values in their performance reviews, or want to interview, discipline and reward based on the values, give them guidelines. Obviously understand that you can’t cover every behavior that defines a value, but give enough parameters and people get the idea. The more clarity we provide in expectation, the better the expectation of execution. Further, the better the execution, the better the results.

Core values have a special place in my heart, because I have seen them work in the workplace. When you create a moral fiber in your company that you hold everyone to, yourself included, it lays out the rules of engagement within the team. We know how we will communicate with one another, and we know what to expect of each person, because our values tell us what to expect. It’s like a contract they’ve signed. When new selections join the team, they see what’s expected of them, because everyone at the company is already living it. This creates a culture of accountability to your values, which, if aligned with your vision, will drive you to success.

Zappos! Brands has mastered the use of core values in creating an amazing company culture. Their core values are at the heart of major decisions in the company, and are infused into every aspect of the organization. They are values every employee can get behind, can understand, and most importantly can live. These values produce a motivated workforce, a fun place to work, and solid bottom line. Organizations with highly engaged employees achieve twice the annual net income of organizations whose employees lag on engagement ("Engaging the Employee," A Kenexa Research Institute WorkTrends Report, 2008). Just wanted to give you some food for thought when you wondered if this affected your profits...it does, and it will.

Core values, when implemented the right way, from the top down, can be the magic you’re looking for to reengage your workforce. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight. Integration is a process, but one that is well worth it. Take your time to build a set of values that reflect who you are, who your employees are, and who you all want to be, and you will see the effects over time. It is transformational, dynamic, and most of all, a blast to see in action. May your search for values be short, sweet, and successful. Happy hunting!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Core Who? (Part 1)

Core values are an enigma in the business world these days. They are the new sexy trend, and everyone wants them. Unfortunately, not everyone knows what to do with them once they’ve got them! As we continue to delve into the depths of how to build company culture that will transform our organizations, we hear the experts telling us how important the core values are. So what do the executive teams in your organizations do? They start scrambling, hiring consultants, and formulating a set of values they think defines them as an organization. So, they think, we’ve built these core values, and now good times will come…right? Not quite yet.

Core values have a deeper meaning than just being words on a wall, which is what happens in many companies. These are the fabric of your organization. They are the moral fiber that you live by, and you expect your team to live by. Your core values should be the underlying factors in every major decision you make as an organization. But it’s important to make sure the values truly reflect who you are, because otherwise you create an identity crisis within your organization. So how do we develop core values?

Here are four steps to think about:

1.       Think about your vision

When we spoke about vision a few weeks back, I wanted you to get an idea of why casting the right vision is important. Who you are and where you want to go as an organization is important, so you always have a point of reference in your decisions. When crafting your core values, make sure you see alignment with your vision. Your vision should inspire people around you to want to be a part of your company, because they are excited about the direction your company is headed and what you want to accomplish. Your vision is the destination you are trying to arrive at. Your car is the organization itself, which will be the means to accomplish your vision. You need an engine, the power that makes the organization go. Your values are that engine. If you put the wrong engine in the wrong car, you go nowhere. Remember that!

2.       Be a realist, with a hint of idealist

You’ve got to make sure that as you formulate what these values will be, you remember the identity of the organization you are a part of. A good way to do this is to look at your personnel. Whoever is in the room with you, that’s bought into your vision and is behind you, obviously has different things that you need on your team. Each person’s quirks and tendencies and drive are all components of your organization’s identity. Think about your family. The identity of your family is defined by the people in it: their mannerisms, attitudes, actions, etc. The same with the organization you are a part of. So with that in mind, your values need to reflect the identity of the organization as you want to see it, and how it really is. People need to be able to see themselves in your organization, because it is their organization too! A good way to figure out people’s individual core values is the tribal leadership values exercise. Here is the link:

http://www.culturesync.net/toolbox/mountains-and-valleys/

**A quick note: if there are individuals in your company that exhibit negative tendencies (poor work ethic, attitude, etc.) that you believe are a drag on you, those are not individuals you consider as components of your organizational identity**

We will continue with the last two steps in my next post, so marinate on this and check back soon!

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI

Where do organizations begin? A Leader's Vision

Organizations, great organizations, begin with a leader. These are individuals who are compelled by a unique vision to attain greatness. At least, this is what we hope when we look into joining a new team. The problem with this is that many leaders trip themselves up in the formulation of their visions. It is easy for anyone to have an idea, they come naturally to us. But how many of our ideas have enough foresight in them to be sustainable, and be the types of ideas that individuals can rally behind, and infrastructures can be built around? Once we ask those three questions, the number of ideas that can be classified as compelling visions seems to decrease sharply.

A vision is not an idea that drops out of the sky one day. It is an idea that is hewn and crafted through time, research, and passion. Innovation distinguishes Apple from its counterparts in its industry, correct? Innovation distinguished Steve Jobs from his contemporaries as well. Innovation in turn distinguishes great visions from average visions. A great leader has a great vision, and that great vision inspires the individuals within the company, and culminates in a great company. In the context of Apple, we rarely saw the hours upon hours that went into the formulation of the vision that brought us the second coming of Apple: the iPod/iPhone/iPad series. But it goes without saying that it was something that was sustainable, an idea people could rally around, and infrastructures could be built around it, because here we are almost ten years later, and Apple is the benchmark we all strive to. Again, it started with vision.

Vision was defined by a mentor of mine in college as “beginning with the end in mind”. Ask yourself when you build your vision, “what and who do we want to be?” Never forget that vision casting is inclusive. It’s not just what and who you want to be, but what and who you believe others will want to be. Your vision can attract great talent to you, or be the reason great talent spurns you for a competitor. Always have a team of advisors close to you that can either rally behind and validate your vision, or show you the gaps to help you form a stronger one.

Remember, it’s not so much about being right the first time as it is getting it right in the fullness of time. If the vision you expect to be the guiding force for your company is haphazardly put together, expect that you will never preserve the integrity of it, because it will be easy to deviate from it to overcome the obstacles of the present day. Vision needs to be an idea and belief that can and will withstand the test of time.

Vision is the beginning of an organization because it creates the pyramid of priorities. From vision, you can build mission. From mission, you can set goals. From goals, you can set objectives. Further, with vision in place, you have the foundation of your recruiting strategy, and the structure of your organization. Whenever I talk to candidates about our company, I make sure to talk about our vision. They should know who we want to be, because if they’re coming along for the ride with us, we don’t want to have to make pit stops to let people off along the way. The right people will believe in your vision, and you should select your candidates with your vision in mind. Those are the people that will not leave because they believe in the trail you have blazed, regardless if things are going well or not.

Vision can be your game changer. It can be what makes you like everyone else, or what makes you the pinnacle of your industry. It can be the beacon of hope your team clings to in its darkest hour or the scapegoat for why your company is falling apart. Be deliberate and intentional in crafting your vision. Below is a quote from an interview with none other than Steve Jobs on Apple and when he came back in the late 1990’s which perfectly sums up the power of vision: “Apple was about 90 days from going bankrupt. It was much worse than I thought back then. I expected all the good people had left, but I found many of them still there, and I asked them, ‘Why are you still here?’ They said it was because they believed in Apple”.

Stay inspired, be developed, be the change!

~AI