“Masculinity, first and foremost, ought to be defined in terms of relationships. It ought to be taught in terms of the capacity to love and to be loved. If you look over your life at the end of it ... life wouldn’t be measured in terms of success based on what you’ve acquired or achieved or what you own. The only thing that’s really going to matter is the relationships that you had. It’s gonna come down to this: What kind of father were you? What kind of husband were you? What kind of coach or teammate were you? What kind of son were you? What kind of brother were you? What kind of friend were you? Success comes in terms of relationships.
"And I think the second criterion – the only other criterion for masculinity – is that all of us ought to have some kind of cause, some kind of purpose in our lives that’s bigger than our own individual hopes, dreams, wants and desires. At the end of our life, we ought to be able to look back over it from our deathbed and know that somehow the world was a better place because we lived, we loved, we were other-centered, other focused.”
– Joe Ehrmann
Last week, I wrote about the power of transformational workplaces to attract and retain great people and to drive powerful results for the organization. This week, I want to show you three steps to create a transformational workplace.
The idea of transformational versus transactional leadership was first introduced to me in a book titled “InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives” by Joe Ehrmann. Ehrmann is an amazing person and known as “America’s Coach” by many.
His book outlines the power coaches have to transform lives when they focus on building character rather than just winning games.
This idea of building people first and the results will come was birthed in me by the ideas in Ehrmann’s book. I highly recommend reading it.Here are the three ways you can begin to create a transformational workplace in your organization.
Create Alignment
The only way to provide autonomy to your people while delivering results is to create alignment and clarity in your organization. This alignment is built upon the three clarity pillars of our 12 Pillar Framework. They are:
1. Core Purpose: Your organization’s reason for being beyond making money. This is your big why.
2. Core Values: The rules by which your team plays the game. Teach your people that if they stay within these boundaries they are free to improvise in their pursuit of the vision.
3. Vision: What is the inspiring future your team is reaching for? Is it a clear destination? Will you know when you have crossed the finish line?
Put Your People First By putting the needs of your people ahead of your needs and even ahead of your customers, you will create a workforce that is engaged and motivated to deliver outstanding results to your clients. This level of customer service will create customer loyalty that will drive organizational profits, which results in the leader’s goals being met. It seems counterintuitive but it works.
Southwest Airlines has always put its people ahead of its customers. Putting its people first has led to outstanding results for its customers and shareholders.
The best exercise I have found to help leaders put their people first is the “Be, Do, Have, Help” exercise I learned from Chick-fil-A. Ask everyone you lead to write down five things for each category. Five things they want to Be, five things they want to Do, etc. Put this information in their human resources file and refer to it often. Find ways to help them accomplish their goals and they will help you accomplish yours.
Embrace Honest Mistakes
People moving fast in pursuit of a common goal will make mistakes. Fear of mistakes stifles creativity and kills speed. Praise the mistakes. Highlight them for what they are – potholes on the road to success. Learn from the mistakes and train your people to avoid them in the future. Make your Return on Mistakes incredibly high.
If your leadership will focus on creating alignment, putting your people first and embracing mistakes, you will create a great workplace that attracts the best people and delivers outstanding results.Let’s end with a question and a quote.
If you coach, why do you coach? If you lead others, why do you lead? If you parent, why do you parent?
“I coach boys to help boys become men of empathy and integrity who will lead, be responsible, and change the world for good.”
– Coach Joe
Curt Fowler is president of Fowler & Company and director at Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey. He is dedicated to helping leaders build great organizations and better lives for themselves and the people they lead.
Curt and the team at FHRS help leaders build great companies through Fractional CFO, strategy, tax and accounting services.
Curt is a syndicated business writer, speaker and business coach. He has an MBA in strategy and entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and five children.
