Lead Thru Values

Today I have a very special guest for you, Ann Richardson.

Ann is a visionary and transformative health care consultant. She is often referred to as “the doctor whisperer” because of her tenacious commitment to improving the healthcare industry.

Ann works with administrators and clinicians helping them deliver the highest possible patient care through program development & training, leadership development, and operational effectiveness.

A fierce patient advocate, Ann is passionate about being a voice for frontline workers to implement their ideas for improving patient care.

Ann and I became acquainted through LinkedIn because of our like-minded views on creating high performance workplaces and our desire for developing elite performers who exemplify great leadership through strong values, morals and ethics.

Ann's contact info:
Ann Richardson
Healthcare Systems Transformation & Operations Consultant
Lead Well Healthcare Consultants
[email protected]
(508) 726-3270

What if this structured training system — a system that’s been in place for generations in various trades — became part of your company’s formal recruiting-hiring-development process?

As the employee you receive a comprehensive education about the business that goes far beyond the baseline knowledge required for the job. 

How your job impacts the business: sales, fulfillment, purchasing, finance.

How each person’s contributions drive revenue and profitability. 

How your culture of development and history of churning out rock stars at all levels is your greatest competitive advantage. 

As a job seeker, you’re getting paid two ways:  one in the currency of money, the other currency of experience

You get the benefit of a head start on your career. You’ll be 2-6 years ahead of where you’d be if you went to college first. 

You’re learning the business, the market, the industry. You’re getting professional development opportunities…

Leadership. Presentation skills. Collaboration.

Being surrounded by other high performers who’ve “come up through the ranks” gives you multiple people to go to for advice, wisdom, and mentoring. 

And there’s also another currency… you build loyalty to a company that saw potential in you, sometimes before you saw it in yourself. 

Apprenticeship is not a function of conventional HR;

Rather a new, strategic aspect of your company; 

As important as any other operations team such as sales, fulfillment or purchasing. 

Why not embrace apprenticeship as part of your organizational culture and your overall business strategy? 

The cost vs benefit analysis seems pretty clear. 

It’s my belief that this is the evolution in business and embodies the flexibility that young people are seeking. 

I’m helping a client discover and define their core values and behaviors. 

This week we dug deep and uncovered some absolutely fascinating attributes of their culture. 

People around the room are in various roles. Some are executive level. Some are management. 

Some are neither. 

But one thing they all have in common is that they’re invested. 

Invested in the company. 
Its customers. 
Its products.
Its solutions. 
Its people. 
Its mission. 
Its vision. 

One word that surfaced during the discovery process was Grace. 

Grace has been a cultural attribute in this company from the very beginning. 

That struck me as highly unusual. I’ve not seen that particular word come forward before. At least not like this. 

Here’s the interesting thing:  they didn’t think it was a big deal until I showed them an outsider’s perspective of just how amazing it was by the way they were describing the history and impact of grace.. 

And that’s when the energy changed. 

This team started to believe more in the process we’re going through. 

They started to think differently. Deeper. 

And they began to not only understand - but embrace what they’re a part of and how they’re contributing to it. 

This is what makes my job so fulfilling and exciting for me! 

Now what comes after this discovery and defining stage is bringing these attributes to life so they are visible, measurable, and teachable.

We’ll integrate them into formal and informal feedback.
We’ll integrate them into their hiring process.
We’ll integrate them into their strategic planning process.

And, they’ll become an integral part of their culture of execution excellence. 

It will forever change their company for the better. 

This process is so much more than writing statements.  This process is about investing in the development of individuals and team.

It’s about inspiring greatness in every activity.

It’s about instilling a sense of confidence and belief in what WE are building and accomplishing. 

Like I said, I love what I do because I keep looking until I find the spark. And then I pour gasoline on it. 

What unique attributes of your company culture are waiting to be discovered — or even re-discovered?

Is there something that’s missing… something that used to be there but has been stolen by the busyness and disruption of the last couple of years? 

Perhaps you’re a business owner who’s looking for a way to get your team re-energized and re-engaged in the business but you’re not sure what you need to do.

Or maybe you’re the leader of a fast growing company and the growth has started to level off and you want to breathe new life into it.

Or maybe a new competitor has moved into your market and they have a better way of doing things.

If those examples hit home, you have options. 

I give my clients an unfair advantage over their competition because we’ll build something that no one else can duplicate:  a high performance workplace based on your unique and distinct business DNA.

I start conversations that need to happen that just don’t happen on their own. 

Here’s why that’s important:  Conversations create clarity and that clarity produces action, and action drives your results.

Contact James at (319-929-2604) or email your questions, comments and feedback to James at 'coach @ james mayhew.com'

This might be one of my most important episodes of this podcast. I touched on this subject briefly in episode 14 which is actually a video series I made called JAM Sessions.

But today I’m going to peel back the curtain around why so many companies who have core values are failing to make them real and they become nothing more than words on the wall.

#1 Your values are not mentioned - or at best - are just after thoughts in your job postings, your intervies and your new hire onboarding process. 

2. Employees don’t know how they’re doing at their job. 

3. Every high performance workplace has a high level of accountability. Employees who care create lasting impact. 

4. Your Technology and customer management systems are outdated and inefficient.

5. Turnover. Consider the first 4 examples I’ve given you. One of these will cause people to be irritated. Two or 3? People will be frustrated. All 4? Well, your best people will probably move on to something better. When your core values are just words on a wall, you will have higher turnover. Your will struggle to keep talented and  smart people for very long.

Please understand that discovering and defining your core values isn’t something you do in a leadership team meeting or two to check a box.

Just like hiring, if you shortcut it and don’t have an execution strategy to go along with it, they will become words on a wall.

One of the most dangerous things that executives can do to negatively impact your workplace culture is to come up with your core values and and not have a plan or a system to bring them into  your day to day operations. 

So before you take on this initiative, make sure you understand how easy it is to create unintended consequences around your values. It’s entirely possible you’ll do more harm than good.

A few episodes ago in episode 41, I discussed some practices to hold better 1:1 meetings. On today’s episode, I want to touch on an unintended outcome that could cause you a lot of stress and disruption to your business.

That unintended outcome is what I’m about to share with you regarding the manager and employee meeting.

Let’s say you have a standing 1:1 meeting with one of your team members. 

It’s on the calendar at the same time month after month and perhaps it’s been going for the better part of a year or more.

You hear that other managers are scaling back their 1:1 meetings because we need to be more productive with our time.”

You’ve been a manager for several years and you think you’re pretty much up to speed on what’s going on… and the number of meetings you’re required to be in with upper management keeps increasing.

You hear from your team that they also feel like 1:1 meetings have become stagnant. One of them even called them pointless.

You reflect on how this time used to be more productive, however, over the past six-plus months it’s been very routine… another box to check off.

The update part of your meeting is over in 5 minutes because your questions have boiled down to:

“How is the project coming?”

And you get answers like, “It’s going good.”

You ask, “Is there anything you need from me?”

“Nope. It’s all good.”

So it seems that the two of you are both satisfied with the overall progress. Everything is fine and good…

and since you’re all “so busy with the work,” like the other managers, you make decision to end regular 1:1 employee meetings. 

Everyone agrees that, “We’ll meet when we need to. 

Weeks go by. There are no scheduled meetings but you do an occasional fly-by to check-in. 

How are things going? Anything you need from me? 

You get mostly the same short answers. 

It appears that things are going well. You hear a few small ideas and suggestions around great flex time and ideas for the next company party.

One day, your best employee schedules a meeting with you. You accept the meeting request for tomorrow afternoon, 

And that’s when they drop the bomb.

“I wanted you to know that I’ve accepted a new position with company XYZ and I start next month on the 10th. This is my 2-week notice. I’m leaving.”

You’re surprised. Caught off guard.

You ask them why and what you hear rocks you a little.

“I have an opportunity to do some really important work, and they’re looking for someone like me to develop that position into a bigger role.” 

You feel betrayed because you’ve been talking about that scenario with them for the past 6 months here.

You’re gracious, however. Wish them well. Really gonna miss you. 

You go to your closest peer and learn that they just lost two people last week in a similar fashion.

This might be hitting home with you right now because this exact scenario is common in business. 

Is it because of a lack of opportunity?

Is it the result of disengaged employee who only want better pay or more benefits? 

Or is it something else? Something bigger? Deeper?

Have you considered that the reason people are leaving has little to do with pay, benefits or even opportunity? 

Could the old adage of people don’t quit companies, they quit bosses actually be true? 

That is true… but sometimes managers take the fall when it’s actually a series of small things that have been allowed to occur consistently over time that eventually lead to a formerly great employee wanting to leave? 

I would tell you that you don’t have an employee engagement or comp package issue.

You have an execution issue. 

In episode 43, James breaks down the pitfalls of the controlling boss:

• lowered confidence
• broken, incomplete commmunication
• frustration
• apathy
• turnover

If you have a Controller in your company, you probably have a great employee with some rough edges that need smoothed out. But if you're not helping them improve, you will lose your best people and be left with people who are uncertain about their abilities and unwilling to make decisions on their own.

Has your business missed a goal and what you heard was, "but we did our best!"

The reality is that people actually do only as much as they were willing to do. 

That sounds a little harsh, but it's absolutely what happens every day in businesses around the country.

In fact, "we did our best" is what I consider a Dangerous Phrase because it's hard to rebuke it. But when you approach it with a mindset to learn why and really dig into the causes, you'll find that something was amiss. 

In episode 42, James breaks  down the challenge of missed goals, even when that happens in great workplaces. 

Have your 1:1 meetings lost their impact? 

The hard truth is that most 1:1 meetings aren't very good. They lack substance and action. And they tend to be a one-sided conversation where the manager does most of the talking. 

In episode 41, James shares 3 tactics to hold better 1:1 meetings.

How do you describe the ‘culture’ at your workplace?  

Is it ‘like family?’ 
‘Relaxed and casual?’
‘Laid back?’

If so, please read on.

When I see videos and job descriptions that talk about how we’re ‘laid back’ and like ‘a big family,’ I immediately think, BORING!

And, If I were the founder of that company, I’d take exception to those phrases to describe our culture.

Why?

Just because people wear shorts and flip flops to work (‘casual dress code’) does NOT mean we aren’t driven to kick butt daily. 

It does NOT mean we’re slow to respond to product development and market shifts.

It does NOT mean we won’t have crucial conversations.

It does not mean you can get by with mediocre work here!

Founders became founders because they think differently. They are motivated to break convention — to do things differently; driven by a vision, passion, new ideas and a better way of doing things.

They are willing to put everything on the line to make a difference for themselves and for people who join them.

They do not make excuses because they know every success and failure ultimately points back to them.

They are burdened with the knowledge that if they make a catastrophic mistake, people’s lives will be adversely impacted and so they have to make courageous decisions. (Yes, I acknolwedge that some founders are only in it for themselves — that’s not who this post is referring to.)

Founders establish these cultural attributes at the beginning. 

But as a business evolves and new people join the company, each team member is one more step removed from the founding culture. 

When you promote your workplace culture as relaxed, laid back, casual and like family, it tends to miscommunicate ALL of these attributes and you have unintended culture creep.

Don’t miss this: you CAN have a fun and friendly place to work while wearing shorts and flip-flops AND completely dominate your market at the same time!

So the next time your team wants to produce a culture video to attract great people, please don’t water it down or otherwise miscommunicate the soul of your company with trendy catch phrases that others use…

Describe your grit, the determination, the resiliency and the attitude behind your success! 

Talk about how you overcame adversity.

Tell why you’re an organization that makes feedback desirable and accountability the norm.

Set the bar high1 You’ll attract the RIGHT people, not people who are looking to ‘chill’ for 8 hours a day.

After all, High Performance Workplaces are about getting the right people doing the right things, moving in the right direction. Together.

What are your thoughts about culture and how you communicate it? 

Are you paying attention to culture in a way that drives performance, or hinders it? 

Speaker. Educator. Storyteller. Please meet Sam Thiara.

On episode 39, Sam and James dive into a variety of topics from authenticity, finding your voice through your life story, and the concept of followership.

Contact Sam at his website, SamThiara.com

Sam Thiara's bio:
Sam Thiara is a professional who has created a personal journey as a speaker, storyteller, writer, educator, mentor, coach, entrepreneur, problem solver and community activator.

His goal is to engage individuals in their personal and professional development, work with teams and organizations on alignment and the 45+ non-profits that he has worked with over the years.  

Presently, Sam teaches at the Beedie School of business, at Simon Fraser University and is also the Founder and Chief Motivating Officer at Ignite the Dream Coaching and Consulting, a platform that engages his audience to define their path.  Sam has become an expert in career coaching (15-40 year old’s) with over 5,000 conversations to date… and supporting teams and organizations.  

He has authored two books, one on storytelling and the other a travel memoir about his journey to India to find his ancestral roots with a faded photograph.  

He has also spoken at two different TEDx conferences.