Lead Thru Values

Part 1 of 2

Fred Meyers, President & Founder of Queensboro.com joins the podcast and talks about what he's learned about leadership, innovation and culture across 4 decades of business.

In Part 1, Fred shares Queensboro's 4 P's of Greatness.

As Fred writes on the Queensboro website:
We will never be better than the people we have working here. If we want to be great, everyone working here has to be great.

1. Always do the right thing.
2. Value relationships above all.
3. Innovate and have fun!

And this list became Queensboro's Four P's of Greatness:

1. Productive
   Do you have the basic skills and ability to do your job well? Attitude and hard work are important but they will never be a substitute for skills and ability. You don't have to be a superstar to be Productive, but you do have to be good at what you do. And this, of course, is often much easier said than done.
2. Positive
   A great teammate will actively lift up all those around him or her. As simple as it sounds, not everyone believes or is capable of doing this. Many feel if they are Productive, they shouldn't need to be Positive. And while being Positive is like breathing to some, it truly can be very difficult for others. But we believe it is central to greatness. No single thing has so significantly transformed Queensboro over the past two years than the implementation of the Positive P. And it is not like we were so negative before! This emphasis on Positivity, however, has given us a new energy that now accompanies everything we do, and it is this energy that fuels us in our quest for greatness. One more important point about Positive? Neutral is not positive. Only Positive is Positive. If you are not actively lifting people up, you are not being Positive.
3. Principled
   We all have our beliefs, but one thing we can all agree on is to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. When someone is principled, you know how he or she is going to act and you know they can be trusted. There can be no real communication without trust and without communication, nothing can get done. How do we want to be treated? This can also be a tricky thing some times. Some like the direct approach. Others prefer a little more subtlety and encouragement. What do we all want? Respect, feedback that is job focused and not personal, encouragement, and a little compassion.
4. Proactive
   OK. So someone is great at their job, and is positive and principled. That's a pretty good employee and teammate, right? No doubt about it. To be truly great, however, it is not quite enough. To be truly great you need that something "extra", and that quality we capture in our final P, Proactive. A proactive person doesn't just do his or her job and react to whatever is comes at them. By instinct and nature, they question, learn, push and strive. Proactivity is the special sauce of Greatness! Proactivity is what causes a person to stop and pick up a piece of trash instead of walking right over it, and it is what causes a boy scout to stop while rushing on the way to the ball field to help an old lady across the street. Proactivity is at the heart of our humanity and is ultimately where all innovation and positive change comes from.

Jarrett Samuels is a husband, father of three, pastor, mentor and creator of the Pursuit of Manliness community and podcast. His passion is to equip and challenge men to raise the standard of what it means to be a man of God.

In this powerful conversation, we get deep about the concept of confidence covered by humility, being coachable and how time is non-refundable.

Additional topics include:

• Mind your own affairs
• Work with your hands
• Depend on no one
• Have a strong inner circle
• Self-inflicted greatness
• Building culture
• “First 5, Next 5”

Jarrett also reveals the inspiration behind the movement, The Pursuit of Manliness and why he’s driven to vigorously equip men to pursue biblical manliness. 

This is part 5 of a 5-part series on what it means to lead thru values.

In its simplest form, culture is defined as, “How we want to get work done around here.”

Cultural attributes that influence a company’s performance include:

• Constant improvement
• Risk tolerance
• Opportunistic
• Solutions
• Leadership development
• Hiring processes & hiring decisions
• How information is communicated
• How tribal knowledge is shared

Put each of the above attributes through the “how we want to get work done ‘filter’…”

• We are driven to constantly improve.
• We view risk as a necessary element for growth (or, We are serious about taking risk out of your future.)
• Our entrepreneurial spirit creates unlimited opportunities for our people.
• We think with the end in mind; we’re always working to solve challenging problems.
• We believe in developing leaders from within.
• We will never compromise our hiring process as it’s an integral strategy for our growth.
• We believe in sharing vital company information to everyone.
• We believe in the power of mentoring and passing on tribal knowledge. 

Each of these have significant impacts on performance, and how the process might look.

When you have a strong value system as part of your culture, your profits increase, you’re more innovative, you’re able capitalize on opportunities… and your brand becomes more ‘human.’ 

Just like when you enter a workplace that has a poor culture, the energy (vibe) inside a thriving workplace is not only palpable, it’s also observable (and therefore, measurable).

What a thriving culture looks like from the inside:

• Positive vibe/energy; excitement; high-5’s and recognizing others is common practice
• People know what’s expected of them:  quality, deadlines, hand-offs, urgency/prioritization
• Employees have the tools & resources to do their job with excellence
• Zero tolerance for toxic attitudes & behaviors
• People want to work there; they are drawn to the concept of working for a great company
• There are abundant opportunities for growth
• Values are present & observable in meeting rooms, workspaces, and everywhere in between
• People at all levels have open & honest communication with each other
• Feedback is a daily occurrence, something that employees desire, and do not fear
• People are excited to share information and collaborate with each other
• Individual & team excellence is encouraged and recognized
• Leaders are constantly looking for and developing other new leaders
• There is a sense of urgency, but not hurriedness; stress is low
• Employees have a sense of ownership over decisions…

When you lead thru values, you’re communicating at the level of trust:

 Can you recall a time when you were on a team that just “clicked?” If it was a basketball team, you probably had a magical season. If it was in business, you probably routinely knocked out high quality, high impact work. People experience being “in the zone” are working where their strengths and passion intersect.  

The best teams know and understand each other’s abilities (their unique gifts, skills & experience.) They also know what each other are passionate about, so they’re not only doing important work, they’re doing work that’s highly important to them. The best managers are skilled at arranging individuals in such a way that they create championship-level teams. 

At the heart of your culture, your values represent the best of who you are and the best of what you want to become. They define your standards for excellence and what others can expect from you.

When your values are lived out on a daily basis, they powerfully communicate: 

• This is what we stand for
• This is what we don’t stand for
• This is how we make you feel valued (because you are!)
• This is what sets us apart from everyone else
• This is why you can rely on us
• This is how we will continue to improve

This is part 2 of a 5-part series on what it means to lead thru values.

There are 4 types of values systems present in any organization:

Core values – Your uncompromising performance standards for how you do business. 

• We do what we say
• We are always on time with our production orders; never late
• We refuse to take shortcuts or compromise our quality

Aspirational values – What you aspire to be now, and in the future. 

• We’re not afraid to take risks
• We don’t just maintain, we multiply

“Permission to play” values – The baseline expectations at your company. 

• You are honest
• You treat others respectfully
• You are reliable – others can count on you 

Accidental values – values that develop accidentally and have a negative influence on personnel and strategy.

• Taking a “one size fits all” approach for employee development
• Stale mindsets such as “We’ve always done it that way,” and “We tried that before” are visibly present
• Low accountability that allows people to cut corners or settle for ‘good enough’ attitudes

High-cost consequences of accidental values

• Accidental values are the result of poor leadership styles or structure and lead to:
• Incomplete and inconsistent communication; lack of transparency; 
• Lack of unity; work is completed but frequently misses critical company objectives
• Little or no collaboration; people working in isolation accentuates problems with communication
• Apathetic attitudes
• Suspicion & gossip run rampant
• Struggle to attract new employees; weak candidate pipeline
• Growth is stagnant
• Low energy; no new ideas
• Stress and hurriedness are the norm, not the exception

This is part 1 of a 5-part series on what it means to lead thru values.

Your values and the culture you’re creating around them communicates to your partners, clients, vendors, volunteers, staff, board members:

 What you can expect every time you work with us. Things like:

• Our rapid response time
• Our goal to deliver an unmatched quality of products and/or services
• Our commitment to friendliness & professionalism by every person at every level in every department
• We follow thru on promises. (I once had a client tell his team, “If we just deliver on what we promise, we’ll be better than 90% of our competition.” And he was right.)

Your competitive advantage is deeply rooted in your culture

Your values (and the culture you’re creating around them) tells your partners, clients, vendors, volunteers, staff, board members:

• Who you are, what you do, and why you’re the best.
• This is what you can expect from us every time you work with us.

Your values must be:

Personal – they connect with every member of the team in a deeply meaningful way

Corporate – this is how we make decisions, this is how we recruit, this is who we hire, this is how we treat our employees, this is how we take care of customers

Defining – they define your competitive advantage

Don’t miss this:  Culture exists whether you pay attention to it or not.

In this premiere episode, James shares what keeps business owners, executives, and anyone who's responsible for leading a team, up at night...

• Sales and revenue
• Competition
• Engagement
• Culture
• Mistakes
• Issues with vendors, suppliers 
• The Brilliant Jerk(s)
• Employees with toxic behaviors and attitudes
• How to grow / get unstuck
• Feeling overwhelmed, stressed
• Hurried & rushed
• Feeling like you don't have the answers...

James lays out the expectations for the podcast, why the transition from The Unbusy Leader to Leading Thru Values, and who this podcast is for.

James is passionate about human potential and behavior:

• How you make decisions
• How you build relationships
• How you approach your work
• How you communicate with others

In future episodes, James will give you insights and shared experiences from his work as a leadership & business coach, corporate trainer and consultant – as well as from his high-caliber guests.

When should you work on your company culture?

When you start to notice an increase in turnover?
When business just doesn’t seem enjoyable anymore and it feels stagnant?
When some drama hits and it impacts your yearly goals?
When you reach a certain milestone such as employee count or a certain revenue?

I’ve been hired to work with companies in each of these situations. And the truth for each situation is that they’ve already missed the signs...

Don’t miss this:  Culture exists whether you’re paying attention to it or not. 

Accidental values emerge... behaviors that you aren’t noticing such as gossip, poor communication between departments, employees that are stressed, customers service that lacks... real service.

The answer to “when” is NOW...

When you’re doing great!
When you’re building your business!
When you’re hiring rapidly!
When you’re considering cutbacks and layoffs!

Start now because it’s only going to get harder when there’s more customers, more employees, more locations;

More drama 
More busyness
More mistakes

Make culture a priority just as you make sales, marketing and product development a priority. 

Shifting culture takes work. It takes strategy and it takes a commitment. 

And making it a priority will be the greatest decision you’ll make for the future of your business. 

Your culture drives everything you do;
- what you do
- why you do it
- and how you do it

It communicates exactly what you can expect anytime that you do business with us.

A select few businesses have mastered it and they continue to thrive in a year where most are just trying to survive.

So what do they do better? 

My name is James Mayhew, and I’m YOUR chief culture officer, and that’s the topic for this Jam Session.

There’s a meme going around social media that says,
Whoever came up with the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru process
should be in charge of the 
government,
hospitals, and
the DMV.

I say amen to that! 

They’ve gone all-in on differentiating from their competition by creating a culture of serving others.

They have a value that reads “We pursue what’s next” and they’ve defined it by saying “we find energy in adapting and reinventing how we do things, from the way we work to how we care for others.”

That means that even though there’s 20 cars lined up in their drive thru, they’ll get you through timely, accurately and stress free.

They bring their team outside - closer to the customer - because that helps eliminate the bottlenecks at the window.

They are well trained on the menu options.

They smile.

And, when you say thank you to them, they reply with My Pleasure.

They’ve adapted to 2020 and as a result, in my hometown, they’re thriving.

I was craving a good burger a couple of weeks ago;
But when I saw the line at my favorite burger joint NOT moving, 
it was an easy decision to head on over to CFA.

I was #11 in line and was served and on my way in less than 7 minutes. I timed them.

As I watched the staff work, there was Hustle. Smiles. Organization. Teamwork.

This is how what it means to live out your values: 
because the CFA culture prioritizes, trains and creates a system for serving others first

That’s a competitive advantage that their competitors cannot duplicate.