Do you have one for your business?
By Dean Landers, Landers Appliance
Why do you do what you do?
It’s a serious and revealing question to roll around and consider. Most people take more than a few minutes to respond, and some are never able to fully articulate an answer. That’s a problem!
Why? Because so many people haven’t really thought about why they do what they do in any depth. Which means they can’t be expected to stay on track because there is no clear track. It hasn’t been identified orestablished. Yet why you do what you do is foundational to establishing your vision for you and your company.
“So what?” you say. But have you ever considered what kind of leader that makes you? Could you imaginegoing into battle behind a general who hasn’t defined a clear strategy for his troops and simply invites hissoldiers to follow him blindly? Follow him where? How? And don’t say to victory. It rings hollow when the details aren’t included.
Follow the Leader
If you want your staff to follow you, your “why” must be easily understood, clearly communicated, engaging and put into practice. It must be witnessed by everyone in and during the day-to-day operations of running the business. Your attitude as business owner, manager, supervisor (andevery other leadership title) also matters. A lot!
Remember, we lead people, not a team or staff as you may think of them. They are individuals first and foremost, and are relational beings. People must havesomething and someone to follow. Think about who you follow and why. What makes those you followcompelling?
In a recent Wall Street Journal article on startups, Index Ventures partner Martin Mignot observed, “In the early days it is all about hiring and onboarding.” Mignot led a research project on 200 successful ventures. “Later on it’s all about organizing the team and all of the process around that,” he said. “What stays constant is the amount of time you spend on people-related matters.”
How much time? For the 200 founders he surveyed, it’s roughly 50%. And the size of your company doesn’tmatter. Whether you have two or 2,000 employees, people need to be led.
More Than a Catchphrase
Having said that, you can’t spin up a catchy phrase or mantra, talk about it for half a minute or even half a day and expect people to grasp your vision and implement it for the foreseeable future. Your vision, which is motivated by your “why,” is yours. Uniquely yours!
For others to understand, grasp and carry it out, it must be clearly articulated, with a few critically important points to focus on. Identify specific key performance indicators (KPIs) around those focal points and provide a method of keeping on track for all to see, as accountability ensures success. (See Chapter 4, p. 80, from “The Ultimate Competitive Advantage” by Shawn Moon & Sue Dathe-Douglass.)
Leaders Lead
Let’s start with you. Think about how much time you spend developing the people within your own company. How much time do you spend improving your knowledge of people and business management, and developing better processes to help your people succeed at their jobs? Do you even know the details of what various departments do and how they do it daily?
I’m not trying to give anyone a guilt trip, but I am trying to get you thinking and writing. This exercise is especially important if you are on a growth path, trying to expand your reach and footprint in your marketplace or improve your company’s salability. Setting the foundation surrounding your “why” and framing out a detailed vision is a critical factor in achieving success. It requires thought and planning.
What’s Your Vision?
In case you answered the “why” question at the top of this article by saying you want to make lots of money, start over. That is not an acceptable answer. Money only motivates some people, not all. Plus, having money as your “why” is not usually positive and is seldom, if ever, successful over a prolonged period of time.
Happy thinking!
Dean Landers is owner of Baltimore’s Landers Appliance. Landers literally wrote the book on appliance repair pricing with his “Appliance Blue Book,” now an industry standard, while his GLEEPS! customer relationship program is considered essential training for service technicians. Reach him at DLanders@LandersAppliance.com.
