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In our most recent issue we
addressed number one of the three aspects of growing leaders
from within:
1) Reflect and articulate
the critical success factors on which the company is built,
2) Communicate and
operationalize these critical success factors,
3) Provide continuous
feedback and input for those who are not consistently ‘walking
the talk’.
In this issue I want to
address thought number two. How do we communicate and
operationalize these success factors?
Starting with communicating,
keep in mind that people don’t remember the impressive power
point presentations that are made every day in every situation.
The company values and success factors must be personalized so
that they can be internalized by your employees. The messages
that we really get are those that are told in the form of
storytelling. This is because a story provides for an emotional
response that helps the message metabolize in our brains and
thus be understood and retained. As leaders our job is to tell
a lot of stories every day that communicate our organization’s
values and success factors. These stories help others see how
we can be even more profitable and productive and thus make a
difference for our clients, customers, employees and the world.
Telling your stories also reminds you to walk your talk and to
reflect daily on your values. I have not worked with a leader
yet that didn’t enjoy sharing a few of their own successes
periodically. Given that I’m from the South, I know many
leaders there that never got around to any actual work. They
just told one story after another.
To operationalize these success factors requires
a variety of systems and processes. These systems and processes
are best developed by the key employees closest to the function.
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I have always said that the
front-line employees are your best productivity consultants
because they know exactly what is needed to be more
productive. Cross-functional teams made up of these front line
employees assigned the task of developing checklists to ensure
that quality standards are consistently met is a simple but
profound approach to operationalizing your values and success
factors. Review the checklists for alignment to the company
values and success factors. Fine tune it. Then communicate your
findings to the company. This ensures that every employee uses
the company’s winning approach or another uniquely valuable
approach that generates these same results.
I’ll look forward to getting
your feedback about this issue and incorporating your feedback
into our next issue.
| Reflection |
| Strategic Leaders empower their colleagues to work smarter not harder. Here are two questions for your 'think time'.
How clearly
can you articulate your company's critical success factor?
How many stories have you shared with your people this week? If you received value from these thoughts, please forward this email to your colleagues who might also be interested in my opinion. If you don't want to receive these periodic emails please send a removal request to bonnie@halpincompany.com. If you received this from a colleague and would appreciate receiving these periodic issues of The Halpinion, please email bonnie@halpincompany.com and she will add you to The Halpinion list.
Lastly, if you have an opinion you would like to share about growing leaders from within, email me at Halpinion@halpincompany.com I will address your opinions in future issues. |
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