What to leave behind from 2016

“The things that hold us back the most are, likely, more internal than external.”

 

Belief is a powerful tool: A sledge hammer that breaks down the walls that stand between us and whatever we want to achieve or a 5000 lb counter-balance keeping us stuck.

As we were prepping for our podcast around launching 2017, I was discussing with Brett that it is important to let go of some things from 2016. You don’t want to (and likely can’t) go through 2017 carrying 2016 baggage.

Our beliefs are built by our experiences and the messages we tell ourselves about those experiences.

To maximize the year ahead, it is a great practice to review what happened in 2016 and what we are telling ourselves about those experiences.

  1. Look back methodically
  2. Consider the impact to your belief systems
  3. Take hindsight to foresight

 

  1. Look Back Methodically

Many of you know that John Maxwell is my long-time mentor and his company has been my largest client for the last 12 years. John has often said:

“Experience is not the greatest teacher – EVALUATED experience is.”

To evaluate 2016, I recommend sitting down with your calendar and going month-by-month in review. Consider the folowing questions:

  • What was on my mind? (Mindset)
  • What did I think would happen? (Expectations)
  • What was I anticipating? (Assumptions)
  • What happened? (Occurance)
  • What went Right? Wrong? Different? (Evaluation)
  • What am I telling myself about this month? (Conclusions)

Once you have dug into some of the details, the next discovery is:

  1. Consider the impact to your belief systems

Experiences are data points and we tell ourselves a story about each experience. These data points collect and become part of our overall story. Over time our story becomes our belief system and the “lens” (like a prism) that we look through to evaluate and make sense out of all present, past, and future experiences. We shape it and it shapes us!

The movie in your head plays either the Hero or Villain role in your life!”

Self-awareness around this lens is key to understanding our beliefs, our internal messaging. It’s important because it impacts our behavior – it is the foundation of our actions!

To work toward creating a healthy lens:

  • Affirm yourself and blame your approach (Internalize success and Externalize Failure)

Here’s a process to consider:

  • During the occurance and evaluation phases (point 1 above) go deep and, really, disect the situation by:
    • looking at your assumptions,
    • your approach, and
    • what you would do differently next time.
  • Ask others for their perspective (lens) on the situation
  • Create a ‘lessons learned’ list

Which leads to my 3rd and final point in the podcast:

  1. Take Hindsight to Foresight

Use the lessons learned to create new, more successful methods and habits that propel you forward! I believe you can have an amazing year and it starts with reviewing the past, managing our lens, learning the lessons, and adapting our approach – Have a great week!

For more on this topic, click the mic to check out the full podcast.


New for 2017

A new year always affords opportunity to reconnect and to start fresh. This year, I’m looking forward to connecting more and to hearing more from you as we seek to improve the lives of thousands by developing leaders and organizations.

To keep in touch this year:

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If you share my heart around leadership, teaming, and culture, please feel free to share the content with others and let them know that you know a great resource!

Thanks.

Your Friend,

Chris

Leaders Produce Culture… Culture Produces Results!

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Great culture is ultimately the result of intention, design, action, and accountability.  As a leader, it is your responsibility to LEAD where you need to go.  Below are 3 tips that will help clarify the reality of your culture, define what all stakeholders want, and best of all, you will learn how to process and transform your company culture into something clear, enjoyable and highly effective! 

 

  1. Assess Your Present

 

Assessing gives you specific insight into where your organization’s imbalance lies. As a leader, it is important to be extremely attentive to the internal and external dialogue of your employees, clients, and key stakeholders.  To get a solid diagnostic look into your organization’s culture, you can approach the process two ways: informally (through candid conversations and honest observations) or formally (through a guided, thorough survey).

 

Practical questions to be answered in your assessment:

     1) What does it look and feel like to be our employee?

     2) Does our internal culture ripple out to our external customers?

     3) Is our internal culture delivering results that return appropriate value to our investors?

Once you know what kind of culture you’re starting from, where you need to go will be much clearer.

 

  1. Architect Your Future

 

From wherever you start, this second phase is when you determine what your new culture must look and feel like.. 

 

If we set our standards to the highest desired point of a great place to work, hitting on all cylinders of operational excellence and exceeding client or customer expectations – what would that look like?

 

A critical aspect of Architecture is drawing it all up and lining it all out. It is imperative to establish your new norms – PRACTICAL daily habits, clear expectations, breaking the ultimate into easy to implement actionable behaviors.

 

The most effective way to discuss and establish the new norms you must follow is by a DITLO (“Day in the Life Of”) framework. Architecting an improved culture essentially involves creating a clear blueprint for what the new culture will look and feel like. It’s about clear roles and responsibilities, clear behavioral expectations.

 

  1. Activate from A to B

 

Even though your organization’s needs are highly individual, there are a few guiding principles that will help you navigate any situation to your cultural end goal.

 

As a leader, your first task in the Activation phase is to lead by example. In the Activation phase, you are expanding your new results-oriented norms from strategies to standardized practices every single day (DITLO).

 

The most important tool for providing security for the people of companies needing to improve results is a scoreboard. A good scoreboard displays:

     • desired results,

     • the key indicators on the path to those results,

     • the daily activities that will create those desired results, and

     • individual and group progress toward the results.

 

  1. Wrap Up 

 

Simply put, your company can never become healthier, unless you and your key people do too.

     1) Have patience: culture change is an ongoing process

     2) Expect failure: every time you endure, you grow.

     3) Be courageous: courage is acknowledging fear, and then taking action anyway

 

 

 

 

Some Companies Need to Tighten Up

Tighten-Up

In one of my more comprehensive consulting projects with an organization, I was tasked with evaluating several departments to assist their leaders in enhancing performance. My initial assessment highlighted a pervasive lack of urgency and a prevailing attitude of complacency across the board.

Delving further, particularly into the sales and marketing divisions, I identified a critical area that was neglected due to recent shifts in leadership. The marketing director’s departure had left a void, and the sales head had been asked to oversee both departments at the CEO’s directive. This arrangement was far from ideal, as it not only stretched his capabilities but also placed him in a role that was misaligned with his personality. Consequently, sales began to falter, and the marketing team struggled without proper guidance. Further investigation revealed specific challenges:

  • A significant decline in inbound phone traffic, attributing to the ineffective leadership within the marketing department.
  • The hiring of two new salespeople who lacked adequate training.
  • The top sales performer being sidetracked by personal matters.

Our approach to remediation was multifaceted. We prioritized revitalizing marketing efforts, crucially integrating Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to enhance online visibility and drive inbound traffic. Recognizing SEO’s pivotal role in modern marketing, we developed a strategic marketing plan that included detailed SEO tactics from an enterprise SEO agency tailored to target key demographics effectively. This plan was complemented by establishing clear benchmarks, metrics, and objectives for both sales and marketing teams, ensuring each member had a definitive, measurable path to success.

Implementing these strategies brought about a renewed sense of urgency within the teams. By providing a structured framework and focusing on leveraging SEO for greater market penetration, we not only addressed the immediate issues but also laid the groundwork for sustained improvement. The personnel, inherently capable and motivated, thrived under this new direction, showcasing the power of strategic oversight combined with clear, actionable goals.

_____________________

Does this story resonate with anything in your current business? Is your business defined by great relationships without consistently great results?

Let me first say that I commend you for creating a strong relational culture that embraces trust, transparency, and personal respect. This is not easy! But, I want to challenge you to activate a culture that is both happy and accountable.

First, start by addressing your organization’s imbalances so that you can bridge the gap between a strong relationships culture to a strong relationships AND strong results culture.

  • What is/are the problems? Be specific!
  • Why are these specifics not working?
  • Who will be responsible to fix them?

From here, create new norms that are defined and measurable. Some key goals for your organization might be:

  • Clarity of Roles and Responsibilities (Who does what)
  • Speed up (Who does what by WHEN)
  • Produce more (encourage stretch goals)
  • Increase quality
  • Improve business acumen
  • Increase creativity
  • Drive innovation
  • Solve problems quicker
  • Think critically

“You can’t change what you can’t measure.”

Organizations that need to tighten up must provide their people with parameters clear enough to guide their beliefs, which will trigger right behaviors. Maximize your website’s impact by leveraging the capabilities of free seo tools.

The trust you place in your workforce works best if you clarify expectations, directly communicate roles and responsibilities with expected timelines.

I can’t emphasize this enough. “The best relationships start with great communication around expectations” When needs/expectations aren’t met – the relationship starts to sour AND hurt feelings will lead to the break down of the relationship. We want you to feel equipped, empowered, and successful – SO we communicate, delineate, delegate, equip, empower, AND add accountability! Do you have the right marketing talent and strategy to take your brand to the next level? If you’re unsure, you might benefit from hiring a digital marketing agency like Candy Marketing.

Entrust your people to embrace and embody predetermined beliefs, that lead to successful behaviors built for maximizing effectiveness and then hold them regularly accountable.

These standards are sure to set your team up to succeed.

What in your company do you need to do to “tighten up”? Where? With whom?