I like to walk into companies and try to guess how strong the management team is. Call me crazy but I think I can guess with fairly high accuracy. I think you can too. Experiencing the initial interactions with everyone from the front desk on gives clues to what the leadership values. An example of this is Starbucks. Whether I like the coffee or not is irrelevant. I know odds are good that when I enter Starbucks the employees will be warm and friendly. I know that I can sit and work or meet there with friends and will never feel pressured to hurry up and leave. In contrast I dare you to walk into Sears. (If you can find one!) The employees tend to look like they would rather be anywhere else. The whole place feels depressed and sad. It’s felt that way for years. Now I don’t know Sear’s leaderships top values but I can tell the employees aren’t excited about the vision or values of the company.
The fact is as a leader you tend to attract people who have similar values as you do. The saying, “Like attracts like” is true when it comes to building a team around a set of values. As you look at your team do their values match the values you believe are important and will support your companies mission? Are you clear on your personal values? The clearer you become the stronger the odds are that you will create a team that buys into the values you hold dear.
Here are some steps to get there…
1. Find a quiet place to sit and think about what you value. Write down your top 5 values .
2. Frequently ask yourself if you are living up to your top 5 values?
3. Are there any values you would like to see in your team that are missing?
4. Do you live those missing values?
5. How will you regularly demonstrate and communicate your values to your team?
Have an Amazing Monday (and everyday!)
Leanna Fredrich, Leadership, Career and Stress-Management Consultant
Leanna@amazingmondays.com
PS: If you would like help discovering your top values and creating a strategy to communicate those to your team I would be happy to support you. Just email me at the address above.