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Your company is absolutely unique. So much so that nobody else on the planet is able to do what you do.
Except, of course, that your products are so similar to the competition that people have a hard time recognizing the difference.
By the way, this tension is a universal experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Your team is able to deliver much more than it does today. You yourself also have wonderful potential within you.
You probably see sparks of brilliance that come out now and then. But they seem so random! Making this a regular occurrence — even predictable — seems an insurmountable task.
It turns out that there are a number of useful things that help create the environment of sustainable productivity and creativity. But first you have to admit that everybody is different. What excites you is not the same as others on your team.
Each person has his or her own thinking, his or her own heart, his or her own desires. And don’t think that it’s good to just hire people who do think like you — that’s a recipe for disaster. That’s how you end up with an Enron. Read the rest of this entry »
I know you have the greatest invention in the history of mankind. Something that nobody thought was even possible.
And you’ve applied it in a totally innovative way that just blows people away.
Unfortunately, this led you to create a business plan that is entirely product-centric. When I see your plan, as an outsider, I’m worried about how fragile it is. All it takes is the NEXT whizzy innovation, and you’re in bad trouble.
The term “conscious” has taken hold in recent years in the context of business. The concept has been around for a long time, but until the last decade was always considered a bit of an oddity.
So what does it mean?
There are two primary usages of “conscious” in business. Read the rest of this entry »
A fundamental part of the Universal Human Experience is to search for meaning. We all look for significance, a deeper purpose for ourselves and what we love.
But what does that have to do with business?
The traditional view of work is that it’s what you do when you’re not living your life. You get a paycheck, which you can go out and spend on things that are enjoyable and what truly matters.
There have been lots of challenges out there in the real world recently. Hurricanes. Fires. North Korea.
The approach of many businesses is basically to ignore all that stuff, because … what can you do about it anyway? Well, maybe write a check to Red Cross, but that’s it.
The problem is that businesses that approach it this way have no heart. It looks like you have a heart because you wrote a big check, but that doesn’t go very deep.
And your employees know it.
There’s a lot of exciting progress happening. Property values are up. Unemployment is down. Communities are growing.
I’m honored to work with clients in an amazing diversity of industries, and I’m seeing that optimism is generally much higher than it was last year.
Of course, as business leaders, we’re charged with looking at the big picture and taking the long view. So we know that good news tends to blind us to problems, and an up-cycle will surely be followed by the down-cycle.
That’s not a bad thing. It’s how the world works.
Work is the thing that you do when you’re not having a life.
Or at least that’s the mentality that most employees bring to their jobs. Essentially, they’re renting their time and skills to the company while putting everything else on hold.
But you know the problem with this mindset: You usually just get the minimum level of productivity and dedication to your customers.
This is a problem even in well-paying jobs, by the way. Read the rest of this entry »
I was quite excited to see Gallup’s new update of the State of the American Workplace. You can get it for free, and it has incredibly valuable insights for any company or organization that has employees.
I thought I’d dig into one area today that’s been an ongoing topic for discussion. Let’s look at what employees are saying about what kinds of benefits and perks would cause them to change jobs.
You have some top priorities for your business: To create a great company. To solve real problems for your customers. To do it sustainably.
And your employees are your most important, most impactful asset. The question is whether they really are pulling the same direction to achieve your company’s mission.
Before you protest that you’ve delivered great training and make sure managers are closely directing the work.
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