Regardless of the industry, winning teams are glued together by values. You can hire the best talent, throw gobs of money at them, and provide all sorts of freedoms. Yet, without a core set of values that act like super glue the chances of any team holding together very long and succeeding is slim to none.
What seems to be the problem in a vast majority of organizations whose leaders fail to listen, fail to communicate, and fail to train the best assets…..their people? One reasonable response is that leaders spend a lot of time explaining what they do to employees, suppliers, customers, stakeholders/investors, and the communities they serve. They don’t spend enough time communicating what their values are and what this means.
I’m currently involved and advising a company apparently suffering from this syndrome. The executive team has explained this to me at some length until I finally said enough and I don’t really care. Admittedly, this would in some corners be grounds for any meaningful consulting to terminate.
We may be heading in that direction real fast too.
The surveys and interviews conducted to date reveal some interesting data:
1) Most of the employees do not feel part of the team and values are mere words. Overall communication is poor and non-consistent.
2) There are different standards for some teams over others; favoritism is a sore spot.
3) Selective listening takes place causing isolation and resentments.
4) Push back to executive leaders on operations, procedures, policies, and strategies will result in some sort of retribution.
When we live our values honestly, fairly, selflessly teams are able to jell and execute.
“In order to face the music, you have to listen to it first.”
My friends please remember this: respect, consideration, and courtesy matter a lot. Treat others fairly, decently, and equally. Build your moral compasses carefully and always monitor them daily. You know the battle cry: do your best each day. No one can ask more or less from any of us.
All the best/blessings, Mark
