Strategic Discipline Blog

In The Fuel for High Performing Teams, we shared the critical factor for driving high performance. Culture has been said to eat strategy for lunch.

In Metronomics’ author Shannon Susko’s experience, culture makes the difference in business success. A great strategy, execution, and cash flow will not achieve success unless your team is cohesive, harmonious, accountable, and focused on the same dream.

This idea has been reinforced in my coaching as well. Every business I coached to achieve significant success had a great culture.

Gallup’s Q12 (Employee Engagement Survey) is the preeminent tool used today to determine employee engagement. It consists of 12 Questions which are grouped into stages.

1. Level 1: BASIC NEEDS “What do I get?” consisting of these two questions:

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.

2. Level 2: INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTION “What do I give?”

• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
• In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.

3. Level 3: TEAMWORK “Do I belong here?”

• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
• My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
• I have a best friend at work

4. Level 4: GROWTH “How can we all grow?”

• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
• This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

As First Break All the Rules, which inaugurated the idea of Employee Engagement details, “If you can respond positively to all of the Q12 items, then you have reached the summit. Your focus is clear. You feel a recurring sense of achievement, as though the best of you is being called upon and the best of you responds every single day. You look around and see others who also seem to thrill to the challenge of their work.”

In BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0): Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company, Jim Collins shares what inspires people to perform beyond their normal work.

“John Gardner, former secretary of health, education, and welfare and founder of Common Cause, told us a fascinating study on heroism he was involved with. The study asked the question: what motivates people to heroic behavior? The overwhelming answer was not glory, or country, or patriotism, or anything like that. It was primarily a person’s belief that comrades were depending on him, and he couldn’t let them down.”

My customers have often questioned me about Gallup’s Q12 Employee Engagement Survey, and why it includes: Do you have a best friend at work?

The question seems reasonable. Yet when you think about it, and the revelation Collins and Gardner provide, it becomes more apparent why the question is important.

If you imagine your willingness to help someone you don’t or barely know, versus someone who is your best friend, suddenly this question makes more sense. If your best friend needs your help, how likely will you not help them?

Having a business where everyone gets along, has friends, people they care about, and who they trust and can rely on, infinitely expands the likelihood they will help each other out when required.

Building a culture that provides this takes time. It’s not done overnight, however, when you want to build a business that outperforms your competition, and most of all completely overwhelms and satisfies your customers, this type of heroic behavior can and should be commonplace.

To create an environment where everyone is inspired to give their best, contact Positioning Systems today to schedule a free exploratory meeting.

Growth demands Strategic Discipline.

One of the greatest contributors to success is having a strong belief in self. Affirmations like, “I like myself,” and, “I can do this!” stimulate confidence. Why do athletes and the best business leaders have a coach? Many reasons, perhaps the most powerful, someone who believes in them as much or more than they do themselves. Next blog, why having someone who believes in you captures your dreams.

Building a great enduring organization requires disciplined people, disciplined thought, disciplined action, superior results, producing a distinctive impact on the world.

Discipline sustains momentum, over a long period of time, laying the foundations for lasting endurance.

A winning habit starts with 3 Strategic Disciplines: Priority, Metrics, and Meeting Rhythms.   Forecasting, accountability, individual, and team performance improve dramatically.

Meeting Rhythms achieve a disciplined focus on performance metrics to drive growth.

Let Positioning Systems help your business achieve these outcomes on the Four most Important Decisions your business faces:

Positioning Systems helps mid-sized ($5M - $250M+) businesses Scale-UP. We align your business to focus on Your One Thing! Contact dwick@positioningsystems.com to Scale Up your business! Take our Four Decisions Needs Assessment to discover how your business measures against other Scaled Up companies. We’ll contact you.

NEXT BLOG – Belief: The Power of Support