I have a confession to make...
This has been one of the most difficult articles I’ve written in the last year...
And I think it’s one of the most important...
It started last Thursday.
I was on a call with a client at 2 pm.
This client asked me about our team.
He wanted to know how I’d found our people.
He said, “Everyone is so polite, thoughtful, and they know their stuff. How did you find them all?”
It’s great to hear. And I’m proud to say, I’ve been hearing it a lot lately.
For those who know me, you know, saying that out loud is hard for me.
As much as I’m out front in the business, I’d rather be the behind-the-scenes guy.
But I believe what I share below is important, and I believe it will help you.
I don’t want the credit, and I don’t need the credit.
Going back to that client, he asked the wrong question.
He asked, “Your team is so good...How did you find such great people?”
And I’ve been asked that question at least a dozen times this year.
It’s the wrong question...
The better question is “How do you create a culture where everyone cares?”
Last I checked, there are people everywhere.
Like 8 billion +.
Finding people isn’t the challenge.
Getting people to buy into serving and making that your culture is the hard part.
And I’m not naive or falsely humble... I know that it starts with me. And in your firm, it starts with you. That’s just the job.
You tend to attract who you are. Both team and clients.
One thing we’ve done a little differently is to be intentional about living out a few principles.
That’s the “secret” behind our culture, and it’s why clients ask me how we built our team.
So here’s the blueprint...
In my younger (more foolish) days, I’d take a few leaders off-site for a couple of days in a nice hotel. We’d rent a conference room and come up with values, a mission, and a BHAG, à la Jim Collins.
And it was all a complete waste of time.
We don’t do any of that now.
We run the company on 3.5 guiding principles.
Principles that I developed (no off-site...no committee).
I believe this is more important NOW than it’s ever been before.
Principles > Values
Why principles and not values?
Isn’t it just semantics??
Let’s define the terms (according to the Dictionary app on my Mac...)
Principle. a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
Values. one’s judgment of what is important in life.
When you search the difference, you find that principles are fundamental external truths, while values are internal, subjective beliefs.
So, why is this important in a culture?
Because in my foolish youth, we came up with values like “integrity,” “innovation,” and some other nonsense words.
And if you asked 10 of our employees at the time what they meant, you’d get 11 definitions.
What’s different about our principles?
They’re more than just a word. They’re a story. A story about how we behave under stress.
They are a standard, not an idea. “Integrity” is an idea. (It should also be table stakes.) We both know it’s not about the word; it’s about how you live it out.
Here are our 3.5 guiding principles (I’ll explain the .5 in a moment...):
Above all else, apply the Golden Rule: to team members, to our partners, and to our member-clients. Treat others as you would want to be treated in the same situation.
All Progress Starts by Telling the Truth: Clear, candid, and honest communication is vital to our success. We have an environment where delivering the plain truth, even when it’s difficult, is embraced and respected. We never shoot the messenger.
Make the Complex Look Easy: We work hard backstage to guarantee that out on the front stage, the audience (clients) are amazed at how effortless we make everything appear.
Each one of those principles has a story behind it. And I tell that story to every employee during the interview process, and again on their first day on the job.
Here’s the story I tell for “All Progress Starts by Telling the Truth.”
Early in my career, a colleague and I made a significant error on a project. The Senior VP from the client company called us and asked what happened and who was responsible. We were in our early 20s and shaking on that call. We replied, “We are responsible. We made the mistake. We’re sorry.” Then we proposed a solution to remedy the situation. The Senior VP responded, “I just wanted to see if you would own up to it. We can live with this one, but don’t make the same mistake again. And, because you were honest and took responsibility, I now know I can trust you.”
I usually go on to explain that the Senior VP was feared by just about every consultant that worked with that company, because he was so tough.
But after that call, every time we saw him, it was like a reunion of old friends. He loved us, trusted us, and leaned on us when he had a hard problem to solve.
That’s living out “All Progress Starts by Telling the Truth” (BTW, all credit for that phrase goes to Dan Sullivan. It’s his. We borrowed it... I’m never above borrowing wisdom from the best.)
We have similar stories for each principle.
And I know they work, because our people repeat them.
They invoke the principles in team meetings and conversations.
Not because the principles are particularly inspired.
I don’t think you need incredibly inspired principles, but you do need good stories.
The principles describe how you and your team behave...especially when the $*&%!# hits the fan.
The stories reveal how you’ve done it before, so it goes from theory to reality.
Why you need a principle-driven company now...
We’re living in the most chaotic time of our lives.
With so much changing so fast, you and your people need an anchor that keeps you moored to what matters.
Those principles have allowed us to take good people (we don’t have a bunch of Silicon Valley geniuses... me included) and turn them into a team with great culture and a level of caring for our clients that isn’t present everywhere.
Can we do better? Of course. Always and every day.
We’re a work in progress.
And that’s where that .5 extra principle comes in.
It’s not part of our “official” 3 guiding principles... It’s one of my personal principles that I make sure sets the tone inside the team.
Principle 3.5 is WINNING.
I love winning. I’m quite competitive. I hate losing. I tell our team that for us, winning means...
The team wins
Our clients win
Our clients’ clients win
We should always be thinking about how to create that triple-win. Because...
Winning is FUN!
Winning demands CREATIVITY!
Winning is CONTAGIOUS!
If you have your principles written down and stories behind them, you’re way ahead. And, like me, you probably have clients asking you how you found such great people.
If you have principles you live by, but haven’t written them down, do it now. Your team needs a foundation now more than ever.
And if you don’t have anything yet (not likely), steal ours, steal someone else’s, make them yours, tell your story behind each.
Within a year, you’ll be blown away by what happens to your team.
Steve “winning” Gordon
P.S. Being out front isn’t natural for me, so I built a team that does it for me...and they’ll do it for you, too. One 90-minute conversation a month, and Be Everywhere Now puts your ideas in front of your buyers every week. Worth exploring? Book a call with me
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I have been trying to get the "link" to the Tuesday webinars.BUT I can not figure out how to do this? so I need someones help.Thanks,Pat Sanaghan