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BRENDA AND RICHARD LUCIO own the 
Blue Agave Grill in Fort Collins, the fourth restaurant they’ve started in northern Colorado.
I was introduced to Brenda and the company a few weeks ago, and was particularly struck by the relationship she has with employees. So I sat down with her this week to discover the secrets behind this.
As you may know, the restaurant industry is infamous for its levels of turnover. Companies often pay below minimum wage, attracting youngsters who have little loyalty and given minimal training.
After all, why bother with extensive training when the employee’s going to leave in just a few months?
LAST FRIDAY 
WE HAD AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION over lunch, about the value of identifying your brand with your own name. It’s a conundrum, so I thought I could throw it out for a larger audience.
Here’s a range of examples:
- Joe’s hot dogs
- Smith investment strategies
- Fred and Wilma accounting services
- The Jones consulting group
- Marvin Winklestein and sons
MICHAEL HYATT 
is a powerful speaker and leader in the area of values-based companies. I was listening to a recent podcast on this topic this week where he reinforced one of my key messages:
Stated values are fine, but they don’t make a difference until you take action.
It’s a simple concept, really, and should be blindingly obvious. After all, when your favorite cable company states that they’re “customer oriented,” do you believe it when they’re also not showing up for appointments? When they don’t answer your questions over the phone?
YOU HEAR THIS all the time: “Our employees are our most valuable resource!”
It’s supposed to make you feel better as an employee. You know what? I don’t see that it works. But to figure out why, we need to tear apart that word “resource.”
re·source
noun \ˈrē-ˌsȯrs, -ˌzȯrs, ri-ˈ\
: something that a country has and can use to increase its wealth
: a supply of something (such as money) that someone has and can use when it is needed
: a place or thing that provides something useful
noun \ˈrē-ˌsȯrs, -ˌzȯrs, ri-ˈ\
: something that a country has and can use to increase its wealth
: a supply of something (such as money) that someone has and can use when it is needed
: a place or thing that provides something useful
— Merriam-Webster online
What’s missing from this definition? Read the rest of this entry »
LIZ RYAN, Founder of Human Workplace, 
recently wrote a great article entitled “What is a mission-driven culture?”
I’d highly recommend it.
She’s talking about many of the same concepts that I cover on this blog – but this article focuses on the jobseeker’s point of view, rather than the company’s. There’s some great things to learn from this.
THIS WEEK I heard about 
The Dream Manager, a book by Matthew Kelly. It sounded so interesting that I’ve added it to my reading list.
The underlying concept seems to be that it’s extremely helpful and inspiring for a company to evoke its employees’ dreams and aspirations. Check out this extremely short video to get an idea. Some organizations have a designated “dream manager” whose job it is to bring that out and capture the benefits of an energized workforce.
But I wanted to take the idea in a new direction.
WE HAVE ALL HEARD the traditional wisdom that keeping employees happy results in happy customers, which brings in more money, which makes you insanely rich.
But honestly, I don’t see too many companies which actually structure around this kind of philosophy. More often, building a great and loyal employee base is more like “do as much as we can afford.”
Courtesy Stenbakken Photography
I met Pete Gazlay a few years ago, when both he and I had just started our businesses. After working in the industry for a decade, he created Total Facility Care to service business janitorial needs in northern Colorado.
Yeah, I know – has this just got to be just the most boring industry ever? Let me tell you about why TFC is special.
THERE’S a common complaint that I’ve talked with people about this week: It’s so tough to find and hire employees who will have the right attitude in their work! It’s relatively easy to judge whether someone has the skills and experience necessary, but how do you know whether they’ll fit in?
The answer is insanely straightforward:
- Identify the attitudes you’re looking for
- Interview around those attitudes
- Select based on attitudes more than the technical skills
THE 
MOOT HOUSE is a Fort Collins landmark: serving the community since the 1970s, and a flagship of the Hot Corner Concepts group for 25 years. They’re known for their top-notch food and fantastic people. A superb date night out.
There’s more to the story, though.
We all know that restaurants are one of the toughest businesses to be in – hard-to-please customers and tight margins. Especially when you market yourself with high standards.
BACK IN MAY I mentioned that Google would bear watching, because it seemed like they might be losing some of what made them special as a company. So it was interesting that I ran across a Quartz article which discussed the death of Google’s “20% time” policy.
You may not be aware of this, but it was a HUGE DEAL in the high tech industry. It was astounding that a company would give every employee 20% of their work time to pursue unrelated opportunities.
When I started at HP back in 1978, there were some philosophies which were similar to this, including the concept of the “G-job” as a sanctioned means of working on unassigned projects.
But 20% of your time, a full day every week? That’s outrageous!
The Values-Based Business 