Part 1: Relentlessly Share a WOW Vision
Below is an excerpt from an interview with Deb Boelkes by Tyler Gallagher, CEO and Founder of Regal Assets, featured in Authority Magazine. This is the first installment in a 5-part series.
What is the first thing that managers and executives should be doing to improve their company work culture?
Make sure everyone in the chain of command understands the organization’s mission, vision, and values. Each and every team member needs to find purpose and meaning in what they do.
It’s difficult for employees to get excited about the mission, vision and objectives of an organization if they don’t know what these things are. It’s impossible for managers to align team members’ personal visions of success with the organization’s vision for success if such things are not made crystal clear and readily understood.
Virtually every corporation I worked for during my Fortune 150 career administered an annual employee satisfaction survey. One company, which I worked with for nearly a decade, lured me in when a good friend who worked there suggested I would love the values and vision of their executive leadership team.
I met the CEO/Chairman of this company on the first day of new leadership orientation. He was so passionate about the company and its mission. He made it clear to each of us that his mission, and in turn our mission, was to instill that kind of passion about the company’s mission, vision and objectives in everyone who worked there. Most importantly, this CEO had a special way of making everyone feel like a cherished member of his family. We quickly felt we belonged there.
One of the topics he spoke about that day was decision making. He said, “With every decision you make, think about the ramifications. What if your decision ended up as the cover story on the next day’s New York Times? Would your mother be proud to read this article? If your decision won’t make your mom proud, then think again.” Certainly none of us would want to disappoint our mothers. None of us ever wanted to disappoint him either.
At some point, there was a falling out between him and the rest of the board. Our beloved leader was suddenly replaced with an outsider. The new CEO instantly set about reorganizing the firm, for no apparent reason to anyone outside the C-suite. The one and only thing the new CEO did make clear to everyone was that this was a business, not a family. It was jarring news.
The purpose and meaning that had inspired thousands of employees for years quickly disintegrated. Quarterly results soon took a downturn and employee turnover increased dramatically. That was jarring.
When the company conducted its annual Employee Satisfaction survey the following year, ratings came in at an all-time low. The one survey item that received the worst rating of all was “I understand the vision and objectives of the company and I understand how I, in my role, can help the company get there”. The write-in comments included, “Maybe the folks in the C-suite have a vision, but they aren’t telling us what it is”. The result of employees no longer having a clear sense of the vision and mission of the organization had a dramatic and jarring impact on the business, worldwide, for quite a while.
All employees at all levels need to clearly understand and find meaning in the organization’s mission and vision. Never assume they just know.