The traditional end of summer – Labor Day is behind us. Although we will still have some very nice days before the fall and winter weather arrive, this time of year in our businesses is critical to our future growth. Much like farmers in our food chain, your business is currently in the process of reaping the harvest of the work you planted earlier in this year’s sales cycle. At this same time, we must begin to strategize on how to best prepare our organizations for finishing up this year’s efforts while planning the foundations for 2024.
For the next few weeks, we will revisit the Promise Culture Compass as a framework for you to use in evaluating where your business is today and where it needs to focus moving forward. We will look at: Guidance Systems, Discovery Systems, Navigation Systems, and Action Systems. Each of these gives direction to focus your efforts and energy on the best possible outcomes moving froward.
Let’s start with Guidance Systems this week.
In order for your business to keep on the right path to its desired goals, results, success, outcomes, it needs to have a set of foundational elements that each and every person in the organization not only knows but embraces and applies consistently in all aspects of business operations. These are the guidance principles that keep the ship pointed in the desired direction no matter how rough the waters get.
Our Promise Culture Compass Guidance system starts with having a well-defined and thought out Purpose. Not the typical reply of – “we are in it to make money” but the intrinsic approach as to why you and your organization contribute to the good and betterment of the clientele it serves. So many organizations take this step too lightly. They put some words together and call it complete. They don’t challenge it and verify its true value to the fabric of the business. Look back at the stories of your organization and extract the real meat of the best outcomes. Here lies the hints of why you exist in the marketplace.
With a solid Purpose being the first steppingstone to growth in place, your attention needs to expand on the framework to include Core Values and the Principles the team will use to conduct themselves and funnel all decisions through them for consistent application and outcome. This is not an extensive list of all the nice things you would like to see in your organization but a very tightly focused list of 3 values that govern all actions and decisions going forward without exception. Those last couple words are critical – without exception. The Core Values are just that, the focal point that magnifies your organizations ultimate commitment to Purpose and the unwavering elements that each and every aspect of success is built upon. Again, this is where many organizations do some collective input and then take the values which most people like or voted for. This is just setting yourself up for failure. It would be better to not start the effort at all. Not only does it dilute the power of strong Core Values, it sets up poor expectations for those in the business and customers as to how you operate. If you are not going to hold yourself to the standard, then you invite criticism and critique right from the start. You just cannot have it both ways.
At JKL Associates we are so passionate about the criticality and importance of Purpose and Core Values that they need to exist for an organization to be able to not only grow but to excel. These become the glue which attracts talent, customers, vendors, and legacy results. It should be viewed as oxygen to sustaining the life of the business. Without the guidance system elements in place the business slowly begins to lose momentum and employees, customers and vendors drift into other parts of the marketplace.
This foundation then allows the business to make both internal and external Promises as to how they conduct themselves and what they contribute to the marketplace. The environment becomes one of a “Promise Culture” that thrives and builds results for both the members of the team as well as the marketplace it serves.
Fall is a great time to engage a Promise Guide to set up your organization for growth in 2024. Reach out to us for an initial conversation at MI (313) 527-7945 or FL (407) 984-7246
Journey On!
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QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS – EMAIL US AT PARTNERS@JKLASSOCIATES.COM OR CALL OUR OFFICES – MI AT (313) 527-7945 FL AT (407) 984-7246
Celebrating 30 years of Delivering on “Promises”
