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YOUR PRIMARY VALUE as a leader is to give people direction, to align their work in order to achieve the large goals of the group.
But that’s the left-brain way of thinking. It’s fine and necessary as far as it goes, but it’s missing something.
Caring. Purpose. Passion.
WINDSONG MEMORY CARE is a great new facility in Fort Collins, part of the new growing field of applying Montessori methods to help dementia patients.
They call their approach the Montessori Inspired Lifestyle®, and it’s revolutionary.
We all have fears when it comes to our declining years. For me, the idea of losing my memory and thinking is unbelievably scary.
WE’RE ALL PASSIONATE about something.
Finding a cure for cancer. Cherry cheesecake. Spending time with the kids. Being inventive.
For everyone it’s a bit different. But that’s the problem when you’re trying to get a group of people aligned around a common goal.
RECENTLY I HAD COFFEE with a friend who leads a great business. They’re a powerful part of this community, always looking to support others and make a difference.
He happened to leave a very generous tip for the coffee shop owner, but it was our conversation afterward which made it memorable. He said to me, “I feel that it’s important to support all these other businesses in town. They help me and I help them, and it makes for a great community.”
You might think that I’m making too much out of a small act of kindness, but this really is about the way he thinks.
TRUE CONFESSION: I never get significant results by myself. Even as a one-person business, I rely on a great number of others to support me and magnify my impact.
I suspect you have the same kind of reliance on others.
The first category is those people who help me produce what I do. That includes development and delivery of my services. If I were producing a physical product, I’d need design, production and inventory. Those might be done inside the business, but a lot of it depends on suppliers, consultants, partners, and so on.
VERY FEW BUSINESSES are completely independent. Even as a primarily one-man show myself, I still rely to a great deal on partners for marketing, lead generation, even fulfillment of services.
It’s crucial to have the best people you can. Especially because you might have just as much business reliance on them as you would with employees, with far less control.
The trick is to align around your mission and values.
ANY BUSINESS OWNER has a very interesting dance – to be immersed in the details while staying aligned with their bigger mission and goals. Honestly, this is one of the powerful ways that my clients use my coaching: To ensure that we stay connected with the big picture.
Otherwise, they tend to never get away from the unending onslaught of details and day-to-day issues.
So how do you stay on top of this? Actually, it’s pretty practical: Read the rest of this entry »
HOW WELL DO YOU REWARD your employees for aligning with your company’s values?
OK, honestly, how many of your employees actually remember what your values are?
This is a critical question, because your people can only be expected to align with what they remember, and what is reinforced by your systems and culture.
That’s why I found the recent article by David Lee to be powerful: Read the rest of this entry »
YOUR BRAND ISN’T WHAT YOU SAY IT IS.
It’s defined by what others think about you.
Isn’t that frustrating? Here you’re spending all this effort and money to create a strong brand image. Does it matter at all?
Yes, but not the way you’d like it to.
Your work at developing your identity and reputation is about how you want your organization to behave. You see, every touchpoint makes up what the market thinks about you. Read the rest of this entry »
A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO I talked about how generosity brings loyalty. Well, it’s time to take this to the next level!
Employees who are loyal stick around. OK, that’s pretty basic; it’s kind of the definition of “loyal.”
Why do they hang with you through good times and bad? Because they figure they’re doing something valuable, and they enjoy it.
The Values-Based Business 