2nd To None

It’s February. Is your 2014 off to the kind of start you wanted? It’s not too late to turn the ship around. Even with an uncertain economic and regulatory climate, leaders of businesses large and small have a great opportunity to step up their game.

Recently I visited with my friend and business advisor Tom Searcy, co-founder of Through Eagles Eyes. He talked about how difficult the past half dozen years have been for many organizations. Beyond the headwinds of cost control, unengaged employees, and some of the slowest GDP growth in our nation’s history, Tom pointed to the unprecedented level of reputation damage we’ve witnessed as leaders cut corners.

“It’s no longer shocking when we see data breaches, ethics and integrity failures, bribes, securities violations, and political graft. Staggering amounts of capital have been lost simply from embarrassing behavior lapses,” said Tom.

Tom talked about research by Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, Aubrey Daniels, and dozens of other authors that reveals the lack of high quality leadership we see in business today has more to do with a lack of commitment to excellence than anything else.

This really hit home with me as I’ve been talking about the same theme with my executive team. My inspiration has come from Joe Calloway’s book Be The Best At What Matters Most. Figure out what matters most – to your clients and your culture – and commit to being the best at it.

Tom and I have been working with a number of local leaders  who exhibit admirable leadership qualities. These folks aren’t seeking the title. When we run across great leaders determined to get better personally, and want the same for their colleagues as well, that’s inspiring!

So, what do great leaders model that we can learn from?

Leaders instill a shared vision and aligned values

Integrity becomes a foundation for organizational culture

Leaders know their people and they make sure their people can and do perform

They identify and focus their resources on the most important things

Said Tom, “Once your people have the passion and motivation, and the autonomy to act, quality training is essential. Moving forward requires a step-by-step approach.” He suggests businesses:

• Establish goals and a timeframe for meeting them
• Prioritize what can be done first that will have the greatest positive impact
• Be so good at the basics that it’s cutting edge
• Communicate, train, coach, and support their teams
• Celebrate the victories that reinforce a commitment to excellence
• Seek continuous improvement at every moment from every available source as efforts to improve can never end.

What’s The Risk?
Do you know the truly inspiring thing about this time in history? Along with the resurgence in leadership excellence comes opportunities for almost unbelievable growth and profitability.

Think about the two decade run of prosperity after the devastation of the 1930’s and deprivation caused by WWII. The risk is to miss out on the historic rebound that has already begun. Don’t leave it up to chance. The time has never been better and the field has never been more wide open for organizations that won’t settle for second best

What is your organization doing to be the best in 2014? I’d love to hear! Please feel free to comment below.