One of the most treasured stories about my mother involves the time, at 88 years old, she fired her hairdresser of fifty years!
She looked radiant and different. "I fired Frank," she said.
"What is going on?" I asked.
Casually, she replied, "I can't change my face, but I can change my hair-do!"
You have to understand; Frank had been her hairdresser for over 50 years! It takes courage for her to leave the familiar and risk a new hairdresser. Her risk rewards her with a new sparkle.
Lacking this kind of courage in business can hurt you. Nowhere is this more apparent than getting the right people gathered around you with the right diversity of gifts.
Entrepreneurs often gather people around them who are like themselves. This hurts fruitfulness.
Six of our existing senior management team members once bought out the controlling family interests of a business. One of the first things we did is get a profile assessment of our team. The psychologist who does the evaluation blew us away with her initial findings.
"YOU ARE ALL THE SAME! I am surprised you are not killing each other!" she said.
"Where is the dreamer on your team?" We were all high D's (on the DISC assessment). "Where are the influencers?" "Where are the C's and S's?"
We had to do the hard work of diversifying our team. But before picking people with the gifts, talents, and temperaments we needed, we had to ensure their commitment to our culture.
This is one crucial step that entrepreneurs must take before getting people with the right gifts and talents on their team. This involves being very clear on your business culture.
Your business culture involves the healthy core values that allow you to thrive. These values must be clearly expressed and understood. They are an unwavering guide to your success.
When these core values are not clearly understood and embraced, trouble is in the works.
If a potential team member does not fully embrace these core values, they must not join or continue on the team. It becomes difficult to turn someone away when they have the gifts and talents your team needs, but don't fully embrace your values. Here is where my mother's courage is required.
It is only when a person fully embraces the healthy core values of your business that they can be considered for a position on your team. The best strategies in the world will never overcome this problem. That is why business gurus say, "Culture (values) eats strategy for breakfast!"
A talented team that doesn't embrace your business culture cannot lead you to significance.
It is not uncommon for entrepreneurs and businesses to be unaware of the actual core values that drive their business. To help you clarify these values, I have designed an assessment, Business Impact Plan: Seed, Sunshine, Soil, Harvest. It has a series of questions (section 2) that you can ask yourself and get your employees and team members to answer. It is free, my gift to you. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Harry T. Jones
P.S. Don't forget to get my free resource, "Business Impact Plan: Seed, Sunshine, Soil, Harvest" CLICK HERE
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