by Bill Curry
Every organization should have a vision for what they will be someday and a mission that they focus on each day in working toward that vision.
Great companies foster employees that live the company values. Values are the culture that everyone embodies while doing their job and they are reflected in how they think and interact with others.
Above all this is a shared sense of purpose. The reason they do what they do and why this is the best place for them to do that.
In living this way they all see the results ahead of time for what they can do. They believe that everyone understands that no matter what role they play, top to bottom, they play just a part in the desired result and never own the result by themselves.
Companies that fail at this most often do so because the leadership team doesn’t understand the importance of their role as leaders.
True leaders constantly reflect on the example they are setting. As a leader they understand that they are the topic of discussion at their employee’s dinner table each evening. That what is said about them indicates whether they are focused on the success of their employees, all their employees, which is the prime image for a leader to project.
True leaders take a positive approach in dealing with their employees. They talk to them as if they are the successes that they can be. The leader is always looking for ways to help their employees be better and they do so in a supporting, not correcting way.
They treat all their employees as partners and key contributors. Leaders constantly communicate with their people. They understand that communicating the mission and purpose of the company and reinforcing the values they live by is best done by identifying examples displayed by the employee’s of the company.
The leader should keep score of how the employees are doing their jobs each day. Measuring the leading activities that the employee’s can individually control, not the lagging results of the company.