Culture Matters!

Since Texas has one of the best job markets in the country, I thought today’s post might be relevant to those looking for employment or looking to make a move.  Last week, I was networking on LinkedIn and I came across an article that I thought was quite interesting. 

HBR posted a blog titled, When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters by Bill Barnett.  The author goes on to write about a man that won the job for a newly created position as CAO.  After he was told he got the job, he decided to interview various people about their culture.  Bill goes on to write that this person decided to turn down the job, because the culture was not one that he wanted to be a part of.

Albert Camus once said, “Culture is the cry of men in face of their destiny.”  As noted in a previous blog, I think one of my colleagues said it best, "Your organization's culture is nothing more or less than the collection of habits of the majority of people most of the time."

So, if you are researching a prospective company to work for, invest in or do business with, asking some key questions to existing staff or connecting with someone on LinkedIn that used to work there, can shed light on whether or not you should pursue them.  Let’s explore a few topics related to a successful culture.

Leadership

As my pastor likes to say, “It all falls on Leadership.”  The leaders in the organization are like the captains on the ship.  They are charting the course for the crew into open waters.  They cannot predict if they are going to run into a giant squid (new legislation, competitive threat, advances in technology, etc.) or not.  What they can do is instill a culture that requires people to bring out their best in way that they not only want to do it, but are compelled to do it.  It’s more than just having a good strategy.  It’s about “finding your voice” as a leader and “helping others find theirs” (reference from The 8^th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey).

Now I’ve worked for FranklinCovey (a company with great culture) for nearly 5.5 years.  From what I’ve seen here as an employee and what I’ve seen working with clients, I believe that the two biggest points of leverage for leaders is Trust and Execution.  If you can build a culture of high trust and instill an operating methodology to execute, you’ll build a winning culture.  Let’s explore these two concepts a bit further.

Trust

When introducing our Speed of Trust Process to organizations, we show leaders that trust is learnable, teachable and measurable.  When trust is high, business gets done faster and for less cost.  Conversely, when trust is low, it takes longer to do business and it costs more to achieve those results.  With all of this said, trust dramatically impacts the bottom line!

In Stephen M.R. Covey’s best-selling book, The Speed of Trust, he explains that High Trust Organizations out produce Low Trust Organizations nearly 3:1.  Did you catch that?  3 to 1!  If that isn’t a business case for a low trust culture to improve, I don’t know what is!

Execution

If we were to look at a computer as an organization, Trust would be the processor and Execution is the operating system.  If you are trying to get new results (running new programs, etc.) and you are doing it on an outdated or ineffective operating system, it is highly likely that you will never achieve your goal (or at least achieve it with excellence).

FranklinCovey’s Global Execution Practice Leader,  just released a book, The 4 Disciplines of Execution, our next best-seller!  It doesn’t surprise us that this book is flying off the shelves!  There is not an outbreak of execution in the marketplace.  The great companies, that remain great, have this down to a science!

Without diving in too deep into these subjects: Leadership, Trust and Execution, there are of course other factors that affect culture, but these 3 are pretty big! 

So, if you are reading this article as a leader, ask yourself how your team or organization is doing related to these areas.  If you are lacking in one or more, I know that is impacting your bottom line.  Who am I kidding… so do you!  Are ready to make a change?  If so, let’s connect!

If you are an individual looking for employment, make sure that before you begin working for a new organization, make sure you create some time to interview random people in that organization to ask them these 3 questions:

1.       What do you think of the leadership in this organization?

2.       On a scale of 1 to 10, what is the level of trust inside the organization?

3.       Over the last 3 years, how well did the organization execute its top strategic goals?

If you get great answers to all 3, I bet this is a company that is leading their industry and is growing rapidly.  It’s probably going to be worth pursing!

If you feel like you need more help in these 3 areas, contact me, to learn more about some of our new online training offerings.  We have several cost-effective options that will allow you to invest in yourself.  Remember this… Learning is vital to earning!

Helping individuals and organizations one at a time,

John Vakidis

PS - Follow me on Twitter for FranklinCovey Updates, Leadership Quotes and more!

Creating a Culture of Execution

In today’s busy world, it is harder than ever for employees to stay productive.  It’s even harder for employees to execute the organization’s strategic goals, while holding down their day job. 

As a leader, getting your team to execute your top strategic goals is probably one of the biggest challenges you will ever face!

In his book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done (co-authored with Larry Bossidy), Ram Charan once said…

“To understand execution, you have to keep three key points in mind:

(1) Execution is a discipline, and integral to strategy

(2) Execution is the major job of the business leader

(3) Execution must be a core element of an organization’s culture.”

He goes on to say, “Execution is a systematic process for (A) rigorously discussing how’s and what’s;

(B) questioning tenaciously; and (C) following through and ensuring accountability.  It includes:

·         Making assumptions about the business environment

·         Assessing the organizations capabilities

·         Linking strategy to operations and the people who will implement the strategy

·         Synchronizing those people and they’re various disciplines

·         Linking rewards to outcomes.

FranklinCovey has partnered with hundreds of organizations to help them execute by with The 4 Disciplines of Execution - Manager’s Certification Process.  Watch the video below to see how we help organizations, Move the Middle.

If you want to help your organization grab hold of performance, follow this link to view videos for:

You will hear them reference the success of their WIGS.  These are their Wildly Important Goals.

·         Execution overview

·         Opryland

·         Grocery Store 334

·         Gwinnett Medical

·         Move the Middle

On this page, you will also find these helpful files:

·         Manager Certification Process (PDF)

·         Results Brochure (PDF)

If you would like to learn more about Creating a Culture of Execution in your team/organization, go to our Live Events Page and look for our next Execution showcase or event in your area.  If you would like to set up a meeting by phone to discuss further, fill out the information with our Online Appointment Book on the top right-hand side of this blog.  I’ll be happy put you in touch with your local Client Partner.

If you want to learn more, check out a previous post about The 5 Stages of Performance Improvement.  I think you will find it helpful. 

Enabling success one company at a time,

John Vakidis

PS - Are we connected yet?  If not, follow me on Twitter or send me a friend request on LinkedIn 

The Power of Positive Questions

Today’s post comes to you written by J.D. Frailey, FranklinCovey Consultant.  Take a moment to read this post and examine yourself and your team afterwards.  What kinds of questions are you formulating together to drive your business forward?  Enjoy!

“Why can’t I find time to do things before the deadline?”

“Why can’t I stick to an exercise program?”

“Why can’t I get people to communicate with each other?”

 If you’ve ever asked yourself questions like these—and who hasn’t—it was probably in frustration, maybe even with hands thrown up, awash in a feeling of anger or helplessness.    

But here is something to consider: maybe the questions themselves are the problem, specifically the way you’ve worded them.   

You see, the human brain is excellent at answering questions and solving problems, that’s what it does.  So—be really careful as to how you word the questions  you ask yourself, because your brain will do its best to answer those questions, and the answers will either help you solve problems and move forward—or create more problems and hold you back.

Every answer to a question that begin with “Why can’t I—?“ is an OBSTACLE to what you want, a reason why you CAN’T, whether those answers are logical or even true. 

“Why can’t I find time to do things before the deadline?”  Because I’m too busy, because I’m a procrastinator, because I watch too much television, etc., etc.

“Why can’t I stick to an exercise program?”  Because I don’t have time, because I hate to exercise, because I’m lazy, etc., etc.

Why can’t I get people to communicate with each other?”  Because they’re lazy, because they don’t get it, because they want me to do everything for them, etc., etc.

The result?  We are frustrated and we don’t get the results we want.

But what if you worded those same questions such that the answers are solutions rather than obstacles?

“How can I find time to do things before the deadline?”  As taught in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People or the FranklinCovey goal setting process:  Start early, allot a bit of time each day, block out distractions while I work on the project, etc.

“How can I stick to an exercise program?”   As recommended in The 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity:  Work out with a partner, plan and schedule my exercise time in advance, set specific goals and record my progress, remind myself of the benefits of good health, etc.

Here is an example.  I once worked with a client, a sales manager, who was frustrated that his team was convinced they could not meet a sales goal imposed by corporate, and therefore, he felt, were not really trying.  After sharing the power of positive questions with him, he called his team together in a conference room.  He titled a flipchart, “Why can’t we reach the sales quota goal?”  He said to his team, “I know you feel strongly that the goal is unrealistic, unreachable, and I need to clearly understand why you feel this way, I need to understand what the obstacles are.  So let’s hear them, and don’t hold back.”

His team mistakenly felt they had convinced him the goal was unreachable, that he had come to them for ammunition so he could push back on corporate, and they really opened up. 

“It’s the economy!”  “Look at what the competition is offering!”  “We have too many other priorities!”  And on and on.

He recorded every obstacle on the flip chart page, and after about five minutes the page was nearly filled.  “Is there anything else?”   When he was sure there were no more obstacles, he tore the page from the flip chart stand and turned to his team.  “Follow me,” he said. 

Confused, they followed him outside and to a far corner of the parking lot.  Without a word, he wadded up the flipchart sheet, got a lighter from his pocket, and held the flame to the paper.  When it had ignited he dropped it to the asphalt and stood with his team watching until it had extinguished itself.

He turned to face his team.  “Now let’s be clear,” he said in a quiet voice.  “We are going to reach the goal, and we are going to do it the right way, period.  I have tremendous confidence in you, and in our ability as a group to get creative and to work hard and to make that number.  We’re going back in that room, and I don’t want to hear one more word about why we can’t.  We are only going to focus on how we can.  And as a group we ARE going to get there.  Come with me.”

They followed him back into the building and into the conference room, obviously down and disheartened.   They watched as he headed a clean flipchart sheet, “How can we reach the sales quota goal?”

“All right,” he said, marker in hand.  “Let’s hear your ideas.  I know it will be a challenge, but how can we get there?”

After a silence that had begun to stretch to an uncomfortable length, one of the sales reps finally spoke up.  “Well, there is one thing I’ve begun doing that has gotten me some really good appointments.  What I do is…” 

“Great idea,” the manager said, and wrote it down.  “What else?”

After a shorter silence, another team member raised her hand and shared an idea regarding benefits comparisons.  The manager wrote this idea down, then turned around to see two more hands raised to share ideas.  After ten minutes the flipchart was nearly filled with over a dozen ideas for increasing sales. 

Any guesses on what ultimately happened?  The team exceeded the “impossible” goal by over five percent. 

If you really want to reach a difficult goal or solve a tough problem, and you find yourself stuck, be sure to ask questions that provide answers, not obstacles, and you greatly increase your odds of success.

J.D. Frailey, FranklinCovey Consultant      

Copyright © 2012 - J.D. Frailey

________________________________________________

We hope that you found today’s post thought provoking about your paradigms as a leader and the culture of your team.  If you would like to visit with us to discuss enabling your culture to achieve new and better results, let’s talk!

Enabling greatness one organization at a time,

John Vakidis

Associate Client Partner | FranklinCovey

214.387.9960 | john.vakidis@franklincovey.com

Let's connect online: LinkedIn & Twitter

The 5 Stages of Performance Improvement

One of the world’s top business consultants is Ram Charan.  He has personally coached leaders from several top 100 Fortune Companies for many years.   He is probably best known for his work around Strategic Goal Execution.  Ram once said, “To understand execution, you have to keep three key points in mind: (1) Execution is a discipline, and integral to strategy; (2) Execution is the major job of the business leader; (3) Execution must be a core element of an organization’s culture.”

We are going to explore this today because Execution is probably the biggest challenge a leader will ever face.  In the beginning, it sounds easy.  You’re the leader, you have a team, you have shared your strategy and now, all they have to do is execute, right?  Wrong!  It’s much more difficult than that.

First of all, only half of the people will claim they understood what you said.  In reality, only 15% of people can articulate the strategy back to you and only half of those people probably know what to do.  If 7-8% of your staff knows how to execute your plan, do you think you will make it?

Having the capability to execute is probably one of the most important aspects a leader can instill in their culture.  While the statistics above are more of a picture of most businesses, there is still light at the end of the tunnel.  Some organizations get it right year after year, and yours can too!

Please take a moment to review the photo below of The 5 Stages of Performance Improvement. 

Let’s review each of these stages, so you can see HOW a culture is developed and strategy shifts towards execution. 

1.)    Drive to improve - Obviously, this is the first step.  If you don’t change what you are currently doing in your business, you will not improve what you are doing now.  So, the leaders must have this “drive” in order to begin making a shift in the culture.

2.)    Leadership Emphasis - This is when the executive team picks something.  It is best, to pick one or two top strategic imperatives.  When you start adding goals to the list, The Law of Diminishing Return will kick your tail!  It is also important that leaders don’t change this emphasis on a regular basis.  If they do, their teams will never start to accept accountability because they know a new strategy will be developed soon.

3.)    Team Accountability - Once the teams take ownership of the goal is when you begin to see a momentum building towards creating your culture.  Division leaders now understand the goal; they know how they contribute to executing the strategy.  Now they are communicating to their teams regularly and holding individuals accountable for measurable activity towards the goal.

4.)    Individual Ownership - It’s one thing for a leader to tell you what to do, but when your individual contributors hold themselves accountable and start behaving in new proactive ways to take new steps towards implementation, this is when the wheels start moving. 

5.)    Habits - When individuals start putting new practices into place and do them consistently, you’ve got something!  This is when the rubber is beginning to hit the road.  Now leaders can predict outcomes based on a large group of individual behaviors or habits. 

To sum it all up, our Regional Execution Practice Leader Scott Thele, recently said, "Your organization's culture is nothing more or less than the collection of habits of the majority of people most of the time."  You can have a culture that executes or one that doesn’t.  It’s all a result of your culture and people’s habits. 

The goal is get your middle performers to behave like your top performers.  Whether you have one location and you want most of the people performing at peak performance or whether you have multiple locations and you most of them performing like your top sites, the challenge is getting the large group to behave well, consistently.  We call it Moving the Middle.  How would your bottom line be affected if you could shift performance by 20% of your middle 60% of your organization?  Do the math! 

If you are a leader and are looking to execute a strategy that is going to take a substantial change in human behavior, then I highly encourage you to take a serious look at our proven process known as, The 4 Disciplines of Execution.  We are helping clients across the globe achieve some pretty amazing results. 

For more information or to join us for one of our upcoming sessions, Creating a Culture of Execution, please give me a call.  We would like to be your strategic partner in 2012 and beyond!

Sincerely,

John Vakidis
Associate Client Partner | FranklinCovey
214.387.9960 | john.vakidis@franklincovey.com