Beyond the Hammer

For long-term success, depend on five leadership pillars.

A house?requires the right foundation?and proper construction. No house can endure without them.

“Team members feel inspired when they perceive that they are part of the greater purpose of an organization, regardless of their role.”

Similarly, to succeed over the long run, a business?requires a resilient culture as a basic foundation. Building that culture calls for?putting people in charge?who follow the “five pillars” of leadership.

1. “Belief is transferable” – If you believe in something, your values will transfer to your workforce.?

If you commit to a strong belief, purpose, or direction, your belief will transfer?to your team. As your team members see you put your beliefs into action,?they will come to believe in them as well. Then they can?implement those shared?beliefs and values in their work.

“Belief is one of the most powerful energies in the universe. A positive belief about yourself will inspire a limitless mindset. A negative belief can be lethal.”

Numerous studies show that sharing a strong belief transforms people’s performance, for good or ill. For example,?a 2011 study showed that 43% of those who believed stress was?likely to kill them prematurely were far more likely to die than stressed-out people who didn’t?share that belief.?To instill productive beliefs in others, follow these guiding precepts:

1. “Remember that negative voices are louder than positive ones” – Fundamental human wiring makes?people heed?criticism?before they heed?praise.??
2. “Make your belief evidence-based” – To imbue people with a positive belief, share the evidence that it is true. This is the “Belief-Because” approach.
3. “Read the room” – “Fear, uncertainty,” and “doubt” (FUD) can undermine positive people?and generate a painful impact on employees who lack basic self-confidence. Leaders must try to?read the people on their teams who may succumb to FUD and offer them encouragement and support. Remember, “In a healthy workplace, colleagues cheer each other on. They don’t simply believe in themselves, they actively believe in each other.”
4. The transferability of belief “goes beyond title and position” – Leaders shape their team’s?culture, so establish a clear purpose and a positive direction your team members can willingly adopt.?That attitude will spread throughout your team.?
5. “Try to frame feedback using a center and a sphere” – To communicate constructively with your team members, let them know the reasons you have faith in them and why you trust them to use your feedback productively.?That is the sphere, the encircling framework of your message. Then, help them define their?work priorities. This is the center of your message. The sphere demonstrates why you believe in your people; the center outlines the specific improvements they need to address.?

2. “Leaders shape culture through purpose and direction” - Shape your corporate culture based on meaningful work and clear organization.

Leaders reinforce their employees’ purpose and attitudes?by positively influencing their performance and demonstrating that?their work has “meaning and direction.”

“A meaningful mission statement and a well-crafted vision statement serve as the beating heart of any company, embodying its core values and aspirations.”

To define your?company’s culture, examine how it hires, advances, and pays its employees. Consider what you want to include in your vision statement, an?essential document that must deal forthrightly?with these two primary issues.

1. “What does the business aspire to become?” –?What individual behaviors do you?expect?from your employees? What should their mindset be? How should you treat them, and how should they treat your customers??
2. How does your firm win??– A firm wins when it attains its “aspirational goals.”

Leaders play an important role in weaving?purpose and direction “into the fabric” of their company.?This calls for connecting your employees to your company’s mission and inspiring them to support its vision and mission?statements.

“We have a new mission statement for Warren Construction: ‘While we exist to transform homes, our purpose is to go beyond the hammer by transforming the lives of our customers, our teammates, and the communities we serve’.”

To shape your corporate culture, follow these five steps:

1. “Start with onboarding” – Use the onboarding process to acclimate new hires to your firm’s real priorities, what it seeks to accomplish, and how it prefers to achieve its goals.
2. “Create an awards program” – To give employees an incentive to do good work, regularly reward top performers.
3. “Weave the mission into?your conversations” – Author Brian Gottlieb’s firm uses the mission statement,?“Do Well and Do Good.”?He and his managers make sure their employees know and understand the importance of that mission.?
4. “Review team members according to their vision statement” – Make your firm’s vision?statement?your primary performance review metric.
5. “Use cause marketing to develop culture” –? Involve your company in service projects to build altruism into your culture. To illustrate, many home-improvement contractors have joined “Baths for the Brave,” a?national program that remodels bathrooms?for veterans who are dealing with?mobility issues.

3. “Leaders are aware of the echo of their voice” – Your words resonate with those you lead.

Everything leaders say reverberates among their employees.?Respect begets respect. Recent studies show that some 60% of US workers who quit their jobs simply want?to?get?away from an overbearing?boss. Never speak contemptuously to those you lead, or you will end up watching “talented people walk out the door.”

“Leaders drive change while managers navigate the day-to-day complexities inside the business and ensure that systems and processes are being followed. A leader and a manager are often the same person, and that individual needs to be able to wear one hat or the other depending on what they’re trying to accomplish.”

When supervisors speak respectfully to their employees and treat them?with care and consideration, they generate good?results. Consider these?positive?echoes:

• “The echo of staying present” –? Remain?“all in” and listen attentively?when you?talk with your team members.
• “The echo of being immaculate with your words” – Speak honestly with employees and honor the commitments you make to them.
• “The echo of body language” – How you come across physically often outweighs your words. During meetings with employees, don’t sit stiffly wearing?a stern, unreceptive expression.?Don’t check your emails or your phone during your conversations. Let your posture, tone of voice, and actions confirm that you are receptive, attentive, and participatory.??
• “The echo of intent” – Leaders meet with their team members for a variety of purposes, including catching up, sharing ideas and information, making plans, mentoring, coaching, and more.?To maximize the productivity of your meetings, tell your team members?the specific purpose of each upcoming session?in advance so they can prepare accordingly.

4. Design your company?as “a training organization” — Teach?people how to?elevate their scope and skills.

Businesses train new employees in different ways.?Some hand over a copy of the employee manual and that’s?it, as far as?training goes. Others are “dynamic” training-focused organizations that see training as a constant, integral activity. At such firms, training has no “start and end”?date; it is?ongoing.”

At Zappos, the online shoe?and clothing retailer, every?new employee undergoes four weeks of formal training. Enthusiastic trainers run the firm’s long-established “Pipeline” system to help new employees move from entry-level jobs to more responsible positions.

Zappos trainers employ a broad approach that – in addition to the month?of training – covers the company’s history and culture. New employees take a course?called the “Science of Happiness 101,” which explains how to deliver happiness to customers. The class members delve?into?“tribal leadership,” take?a one-week training Boot Camp, and learn?public speaking.??

“A leader’s true business is developing people. On a jobsite, would you watch someone put up a piece of trim the wrong way? No. You’d show them how to measure and cut. And that’s what you want to do with people across the board. Because when you think about what we do, we teach marketing people how to generate leads, we teach sales reps how to sell, we teach trade professionals how to build, and we teach homeowners why they should do business with us. What we are is a training organization.”

Zappos focuses on employee?training, in part, to ensure excellent customer service.?Beyond providing salaries, leaders?set out to inspire their team members with?accolades for their work. Feedback from managers is part of the corporate culture, and customers routinely send emails and write?blog entries praising the company’s service.??

5. Top managers share crucial traits –They coach and mentor their people, share authority and vision, communicate, heed metrics, offer feedback, and keep learning.

Formal management theory and practice has a venerable history. “The Scripture of Wealth” (Arthashastra), written in 300 BCE,? is the earliest known book that deals with the formal subject of management.?Arthashastra discusses what traits make?a great manager?and how organizations should designate managers for positions of responsibility?and power. Additionally,?it offers a checklist of the most important managerial attributes. An updated list of desirable leadership qualities says that ideal managers do these things:?

1. Offer coaching and mentoring?– Give your employees the training and guidance?they need to perform at their best.
2. Develop a team vision?– Corporate vision statements spell out where the firm is going and why. Good leaders make sure their teams have vision statements to guide their actions.
3. Empower employees?–?Smart managers share power?and give their employees the authority they need to meet customers’ needs.
4. Communicate?– Good leaders make sure their team members understand them. They pay careful attention to ongoing, open communication.
5. Provide accountability?–?Metrics matter.? Pay close attention to measurements such as key performance indicators and use the information they provide.
6. Tell employees how they’re doing?– Supply solid feedback so your employees know?how they are handling?their jobs and building their careers.?Institute practices that keep good employees on board, such as the “stay interview.”?Instead of waiting until people quit or want?to quit, ask for their perceptions now. Talk to them in depth while they are part of your workforce to learn?what it will take to keep them.??
7. Continue?learning?– In the 19th?and 20th centuries, everyone loved?the Ringling Brothers and Barnum &?Bailey Circus, “the greatest show on Earth.”? Then, after?a while, everyone?didn’t. Customers came to see the tents as dirty and the food as?terrible. They worried that the circus mistreated?its animals. Instead of addressing these concerns, the company?“doubled down,” with more clowns, more acts, and more lions?and tigers.?Ringling Brothers went out of business in 2017 because it never learned from its mistakes.???
8. Cooperate across divisions?– If members of an orchestra didn’t?play in harmony, chaos would ensue. Similarly, a company?can’t move ahead if its business units don’t collaborate. Sound leaders?keep their players on the same page.
9. Emphasize ongoing?process improvement – Managers are busy. Often, they become consumed by ongoing problems?and have?little time to envision an overview of their work, seek improvement, or advance their organization’s?goals. Instead of constantly solving the latest problems, managers must seek and address the root causes?of issues and help improve their firm’s?overall processes.? ??
10. Praise in public – To?encourage superior performance, routinely and openly acknowledge great work. ?

Practice the?five leadership pillars daily to ensure sustainable results, a satisfying work experience, and a solid culture.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (Aristotle)

Stay?positive, because positivity is contagious?and helps everyone in your organization thrive. Draw on the meaning of your work to fortify your awareness and intent?and to help your staff members draw energy from the meaning and purpose of their endeavors.?Ignore negative naysayers. A company imbued with positivity is a great place to work – and to lead.