We started this look at how values serve as the foundation for every organization and how things can go wrong when that foundation isn’t in place. From there, we worked through the importance of clearly defining our organizational values, and how doing so can truly rally our team members, earn buy-i...
To build a reputation that drives results, one that each person who ever hears about us will connect with our core values, being intentional in our approach to providing world-class service and being sure to detail why we’re willing to do it is part of our responsibility as leaders. But doing any of...
Make no mistake, there’s a huge difference between touting how amazing we are and in explaining how or why our actions tie back to our values. We’ve all been around folks who have a title that carries some level of authority, and seen them pound their chest about how important they are or why everyo...
Even when we’ve done everything in our power to model the core values our business is built on, we can’t just assume that everyone who cares about those values will automatically connect our behaviors to the reputation we’re working to establish (or maintain). It’s up to us to explain why we’ve chos...
Prior to me starting at that manufacturing facility in early 1996, and for the first fifteen years I worked there, one of the largest and most reliable sources for identifying new candidates was a referral from a senior employee. As you can likely imagine, the referrals from the best employees dried...
I’ll ask you once more: Who ultimately cares about your values? Our immediate team members most certainly do. And so do the clients we serve directly as well as the community we’re a part of. But everyone else who hears about us will too, and all of that will impact the results we achieve in one way...
If Cindy and I had only been measuring our accomplishments by reviewing our bank statements and retirement account balances, making some of the decisions we’ve been faced with over the last fifteen years would have been substantially harder. Reflecting on even the smallest personal or business victo...
I opened Leading With A Clear Purpose with a story detailing the conversation I had with a lifelong friend who shared how one of his businesses no longer provided him with fulfillment while his other, albeit much more physically demanding, kept his heart full all the time. The business that was fill...
As I mentioned before, a lot of people being familiar with your company’s name and building a great reach that makes a positive impact on everyone around you are two very different things. Whether you prefer God’s chicken sandwich or two all beef patties (although I’m not so sure about that part any...
While we may be able to throw enough marketing dollars around to ensure our brand has an extended reach, the consequences of not consistently modeling our core organizational values - for our team and everyone we hope to reach - won’t stop at dealing with broken milkshake machines. Leaders failing t...
While I was intentional about not mentioning either organization’s name before, I have no doubt that you had a very clear picture of the one with broken milkshake machines and the one serving God’s chicken sandwich. And you certainly weren’t alone! In cxtoday.com article called “McDonald’s Is Failin...
Having referenced my last experience attempting to find some type of sustenance from the building beside those large golden arches, I’ll challenge you to think back a few decades for what you could expect. When I was a kid, it was such a treat! For years, there was only one location in our area - an...