Crossroads Vietnam Co, Ltd https://www.crossroadsvn.com Crossroads Vietnam Co, Ltd Wed, 17 Jan 2024 02:50:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://www.crossroadsvn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/favicon.svg Crossroads Vietnam Co, Ltd https://www.crossroadsvn.com 32 32 2 Principles of an Inspirational Leader: Purpose and Engagement https://www.crossroadsvn.com/2-principles-of-an-inspirational-leader/ https://www.crossroadsvn.com/2-principles-of-an-inspirational-leader/#respond Mon, 20 Nov 2023 08:09:38 +0000 https://www.crossroadsvn.com/?p=11604

Simon Sinek argues that great leaders and organizations, regardless of their field, start by clarifying their purpose, their “why,” and conveying it authentically to inspire others. Purpose is one of Daniel Pink’s three internal drivers creating intrinsic motivation (along with autonomy and mastery). But how can an inspirational leader identify and communicate to their workers what the true purpose is for a company? Isn’t the purpose of being in business simply to earn a profit?

What Is Purpose? And What Does It Do For A Company?

I speak with leaders in Vietnam who struggle to develop “engagement” within their workforce. Engagement can be tricky to measure, but they know they want it. Engagement cannot be developed by simply creating more fun at work, nor by working to develop a friendlier work culture. People become truly engaged with their work when they wake up and look forward to the day because they believe in the purpose of the organization.

So why would your workers feel so excited about going to work? It is not for the free lunch or great coffee. An inspirational leader must make their workers believe that the purpose of the company is above and beyond profit, market share, growth, and bonuses: whatever can easily be designed into KPIs and rewards. This is also above and beyond Mission, Vision, and Values (which are an important start). The purpose is the rallying cry that jumps from their hearts and makes them go the extra mile without even thinking about it.

 

an inspirational leader with their team


How Do You, An Inspirational Leader, Create Your Company’s Purpose?

A real purpose is not a slogan. A company’s purpose is not created by the marketing department to put on the company website. A true purpose is typically not defined by the CEO after a glass of wine. Leaders often can state why THEY are excited to go to work, but not so often can they state why their people are excited to go to work.

I find the best way to really create a purpose statement that resonates is to start with a review (or creation) of Mission, Vision, and Values. This typically requires an off-site workshop with key staff who are hoping to help the company grow. Once an agreed/refreshed MVV is clear in their minds, push a bit more. Explain that Vision is where we are going, but Purpose is why we are going there.

The leader should not state their proposed purpose statement and then ask for comment. This only shuts down creativity as people fall in line with the boss’s great idea. A facilitator is often a great resource for this type of workshop as they can allow the leader to stay silent and come with no preconceived ideas. The goal is to push each participant to explain what really excites them about their work. Push past the great co-workers and great boss. When one person takes a step in the right direction, ask them to go deeper: “Why so?”

With enough encouragement, finally, one person (often the quietest in the room) will say something with a special excitement in their voice, and you will see them start to smile when they describe what they love most about their work. If you are lucky, you will see a tear in their eye. And the rest of the group will start saying “Yes!”. This will be the start of the real purpose and a bit of wordplay will develop the spark into a full purpose statement.

You will know you have the right purpose statement when the wording rolls off your tongue. You will know you have the right purpose when you can share it with the rest of your staff, suppliers, and customers and they all understand you immediately.

Having the right purpose will bring like-minded customers to your door. They want to buy from a company they can relate to. The right purpose will also bring you the right new employees because workers are longing for a place to work where their efforts really matter. And lastly, the right purpose will keep your staff engaged and wanting to stay with your company because it feels like the place they want to be.

By Dr. Bob Connolly, General Director, Crossroads Vietnam Co, Ltd.

Here at Crossroads Vietnam, we provide Leadership and Management solutions to businesses, in the form of Consulting, Workshops, and Leadership Coaching services. Our industry experts, with 18+ years of working and teaching experience, will help you apply the best Leadership and Management Principles for Innovation and Mission – Vision – Values to your business. Book a meeting with us here: https://www.crossroadsvn.com/contact/

]]> https://www.crossroadsvn.com/2-principles-of-an-inspirational-leader/feed/ 0 How to Implement Innovation Leadership: Expert’s 2 Advice https://www.crossroadsvn.com/how-to-implement-innovation-leadership/ https://www.crossroadsvn.com/how-to-implement-innovation-leadership/#respond Sun, 19 Nov 2023 05:00:00 +0000 https://www.crossroadsvn.com/?p=11581

Innovation Leadership may seem difficult to implement for managers, as employees are afraid of failure and thus, disappointing their boss. A stubborn management challenge, managers can motivate innovation by establishing mutual trust with workers over time, and guide them towards decision-making based on Mission-Vision-Values (MVV). Crossroads offers Management Training that can help managers in this predicament.

Innovation Leadership Challenge: The Fear of Failure

During the Innovation and Leadership training in my MBA classes, my students often tell me the theory does not always translate well to real life in Vietnamese businesses. One student offered a clear summation of why Innovation Leadership does not work for them:

“The word ‘Innovation’ sounds like lovely fruit, but the taste of failure is very bitter.”

Jungchan Kim, 2021

In fact, the fear of failure is one of the most common barriers to developing an innovation culture within organizations. This is a stubborn management challenge: While the leaders state they are prepared to take risks, their workers seldom offer their own ideas for change. Put simply, workers feel it is not worth the risk to speak up, and they will wait until the boss tells them what to do.


How Leaders Can Encourage Innovation: Trust and MVV

Have you ever tried to convince your workforce that they should take that risk and speak up? A truly innovation business culture requires both leaders and staff to trust each other. It is the leader’s responsibility to build this two-way trust and motivate workers over time.

Trust is built by clarifying mutually understood expectations, and then living up to those expectations from both sides. In a business, the clearest communication for these expectations is in Mission, Vision, and Values (MVV). When the leaders “live” MVV and communicate that actions and decisions should be based on MVV, then both sides should understand what is expected.

Leaders can encourage workers to make good decisions by referring to MVV when responding to questions about what should be done. A leader can ask: “What do you think we should do based on our MVV?” This takes a lot of time on the part of the leader, but the payoff will come when workers start to buy into it. The goal should be for workers to come to you with a proposal based on MVV, and then to let you know they made a decision based on MVV. The goal is for workers to make the correct decisions even when the boss is not there.

What happens when a decision later blows up? Review the decision based on MVV and use it as a learning experience. While one worker may have made a mistake, others will see that it is still worth taking the chance. Sometimes the right decision is made, and things still blow up. If your workers see that you do not blow up when “life” happens, they will gain trust in you and be more willing to take risks in the future.

One important step is to verify the Mission, Vision, and Values are clearly understood and accepted by the staff. Too often MVV statements are simply something written on the company website because, of course, a company “must” have MVV statements. It does no good for top management to author MVV statements without input from employees. Buy-in is essential and your employees may actually surprise you with what they value and why they believe their jobs are important. If you haven’t reviewed your MVV lately, a workshop can facilitate real discussion and get your staff in true alignment.

By Dr. Bob Connolly, General Director, Crossroads Vietnam Co, Ltd.

Here at Crossroads Vietnam, we provide Leadership and Management solutions to businesses, in the form of Consulting, Workshops, and Leadership Coaching services. Our industry experts, with 18+ years of working and teaching experience, will help you apply the best Leadership and Management Principles for Innovation and Mission – Vision – Values to your business. Book a meeting with us here: https://www.crossroadsvn.com/contact/

]]> https://www.crossroadsvn.com/how-to-implement-innovation-leadership/feed/ 0 Pros And Cons Of Leadership Coaching: Is It Right For You Or Your Company? https://www.crossroadsvn.com/pros-and-cons-of-leadership-coaching/ Mon, 20 Mar 2023 12:56:00 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=785

Leadership is an important skill, even if you aren’t in an active leadership role. Regardless of what level you are at your company, there will be times you will need to lean on your leadership skills to get you through various projects or situations. What we know for certain about leadership is that everyone is still a student of it and constantly learning how to become better. We often think executives and senior staff have mastered the craft; in reality, they are always learning too.

One tactic to get better is leadership coaching. There has been much debate on its effectiveness, but it all comes down to the context of the business and the coach trying to help. Here is a guide to help you and your workplace if you are considering getting a leadership coach.

 

What is leadership coaching?

Leadership coaching is a method of teaching to enhance the leadership skills and abilities of executives within a business or organization.

Related: What True Leadership Is All About

A results-oriented approach to giving transformational innovation to the firm is the proven outcome of having clever coaching examples and efforts. Whether you are a senior leader, an executive, or someone with a lot of potential, there are many avenues to approach leadership coaching. But, all of it should be for improving your career and performance as a leader.

 

How does leadership coaching benefit you?

Leadership coaching has been proven, thanks to studies within behavioral science. It is considered one of the best ways to create and develop better leaders.

There are three things to know about leadership coaching:

  • First, it is extremely personalized. It gives the one being coached lots of ownership and accountability over the entire procedure and where it ends up.
  • Second, the personalization of the process makes it applicable to all problems during the learning sessions and to use those lessons in the workplace.
  • Third, coaching allows for sustainable education and a change in behavior.

Leadership coaching provides a place to address processing emotions like stress and fear. Learning to deal with and utilize these emotions is key to creating a better leader.

Related: The 7 Things to Look For in a Leadership Development Coach

 

What does leadership coaching do for companies?

Leadership coaching is essential to the continuation of companies. Especially today in the modern age with how fast-paced and competitive it is.

A leader needs to use many skills to do their job well. This includes:

  • Set clear goals
  • Organization
  • Be the motivation for employees and team members
  • Adapt to rapidly changing occurrences

And that’s just on a slow day! There is still a great need for a wide variety of different abilities. Having that guidance is what gets leaders to feel empowered and to maximize their potential.

To create the next leaders of not just the company but of the next generation requires a leadership development program. In these programs, one can learn how to be a leader through one-on-one training focusing on key parts of the job. There are a variety of activities and exercises that are also used to help a leader become a better one.

What’s great about leadership coaching is that no leader is the same. When wannabe leaders go through these programs, they are learning how they want to personalize their leadership.

This then has leaders become more effective at work and completing their tasks. It also increases the quality of their style of leadership.

 

The challenges of leadership programs

It is an expensive industry, over $14 billion, according to Under30CEO. However, it has become clear that there are several issues. These include:

  • Leadership programs are not that effective
  • The leadership programs are expensive at the scale that they are.
  • Many programs are not for leaders at different leaders. For example, senior leaders, next-generation leaders, and new leaders.

It is believed that a lack of context, application to the real world, inadequate measurable results, omission of mid-level executives, and even one-on-one coaching have mild success.

 

Conclusion

Every place you work will have a different leadership and coaching approach. How you approach the matter is up to you. Remember, you get what you take from it.

If you don’t think your business’s leadership programs are inadequate, use online resources to find more like-minded people, such as yourself, for the answers you seek.

 

Source: Here

]]> 15 leadership training topics for forward-thinking organizations https://www.crossroadsvn.com/15-leadership-training-topics-for-companies/ Sun, 19 Feb 2023 11:14:00 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=134

A list of today’s most important leadership training topics would’ve likely raised some eyebrows a few decades ago. But the world is now a very different place due to generational shifts, technological innovation, new business models, and not to mention, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we’ll share 15 leadership development topics designed to help businesses navigate the times and prepare for the future.


Top leadership training topics in the new world of work

The world of work is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and employees now have very different expectations of their leaders. The business environment has also become hyper-competitive and difficult to predict, presenting new challenges that require big decisions to be made in short order. Leaders are going to need a new set of skills to thrive in these volatile conditions. Let’s dive in.

 

1. Strategic thinking

To keep up with the pace of change, leaders must train their brains to think strategically — reviewing their perspective frequently and questioning their own views dispassionately. Ian Bremmer, author of the New York Times bestseller Us Vs. Them, defines strategic thinking as: “a reasoning process that supports goal-oriented decision-making using curiosity, information synthesis, and pattern recognition to generate solutions and update your worldview.”

Great strategic thinkers, according to Bremmer, go beyond critical thinking. They’re curious, open, and eager to understand people who have different views. They’re comfortable being wrong and continuously update their perspectives to keep them relevant over time. 

 

2. Agility

Leaders today must have the ability to adapt quickly to new challenges and opportunities, and it falls on them to set this standard across their teams. Developing this skill starts with learning the specific leadership practices that foster agility. Harvard Business Review describes these practices as:

  • Building optimism by projecting confidence, strength, and a focus on moving forward
  • Reassuring people by affirming their roles, value, and future
  • Breaking down barriers to performance, such as inadequate systems and tools
  • Harmonizing resources by finding ways to reduce demands and increase resources
  • Optimizing failure through after-action reviews that create teachable moments

3. Change management

A list of the top leadership training topics would be incomplete without addressing change management. Whether implementing changes to products, processes, or policies, effective leaders play three key roles:

  • Agitator — raising awareness of the challenge and committing to finding a solution 
  • Innovator — creating a solution and a plan for implementing the necessary change
  • Orchestrator — marshaling and coordinating resources to execute the plan

In addition to these roles, leaders must be able to clearly communicate the overall vision, gain buy-in from their direct reports, and ensure everyone on the team understands the plan as well as the reasoning behind it. 

 

4. Trust-building

In times when change seems to be the only constant, leaders are required to make quick decisions, and employees who trust their leaders are more likely to respect those decisions. Leaders must learn that transparency and consistency are key to earning the trust of their direct reports. They must have the humility to admit their own mistakes, and they should personally communicate bad news to their team before it spreads through the grapevine.

 

5. Digital fluency

Leaders don’t have to be experts in every digital tool their teams use, but they need to be proficient enough to ask intelligent questions and actively participate in decisions that drive progress. They should be able to build a team with the right strengths to take advantage of available technologies, and then lead them toward a common goal. Leaders should also be able to recognize the opportunities that new technologies can offer their organization.

 

6. Leading innovation

Organizations in volatile environments cannot survive without innovative thinkers, which is why leading innovation is one of the most important leadership training topics today. To encourage great ideas, leaders should build teams where a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives contributes to an atmosphere of creative thinking. Risk-taking should be encouraged, and leaders must learn how to create psychological safety so that teams aren’t afraid of failure.

It’s also important for leaders to understand that revolutionary change is rarely the result of baby steps. In the clip below from a Big Think+ lesson, Charles Duhigg — author of Smarter Faster Better and Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter — shares how big innovations can be achieved by setting “stretch goals.”

 

7. Crisis management

For L&D professionals, one takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is that crisis management is one of the most important leadership training topics of our time. According to a Training Industry article, in times of crises, effective leaders are in a continuous risk assessment mode and are able to make judgment calls based on limited data.

When circumstances are changing by the hour, leaders must also rely on those closest to the trigger event to provide insight that helps them prioritize. Whether the crisis is a large-scale disaster, a malicious cyber attack, or a supply chain disruption, communication is paramount so that leaders can prevent or contain harm to the organization. 

 

8. Resilience

Also referred to as mental toughness, resilience is an essential quality for leaders in complex and uncertain business environments. When leaders exhibit the ability to persevere through hardship and recover from adversity, their employees don’t shy away from new challenges but view them as opportunistic.

In other words, it takes resilient leaders to develop resilient teams. To build this skill, leaders can learn to practice gratitude, mindfulness, and optimism. Finding purpose and meaning in day-to-day work is another key component of resilience. All of these capabilities can be strengthened through resilience training. 

 

9. Data-driven decision-making

Businesses today have access to unprecedented amounts of data. There are many leadership training topics to support data-driven decision-making, including the use of predictive and prescriptive analytics as well as how to interpret trends in data. It’s also important for leaders to learn to balance the inputs from both digital and human sources when making important decisions.

 

10. Leading virtually

Remote work is here to stay, so the skills needed for virtual leadership are among the top leadership training topics of the day. Leading from a remote office requires clear, transparent communication and accountability. Additionally, leaders have to go the extra mile to maintain a cohesive organizational culture based on shared values and a common purpose.

 

11. The humanity of leadership

Simon Sinek — ethnographer and author of Leaders Eat Last — explores the evolution of organizational hierarchy and what it means to be a leader today. He explains how in prehistoric times, a leader kept the tribe from brawling over food, and in return, they got the first crack at dinner. In the millennia since, the dress code has changed, but the expectations have not.

Workers are willing to cede certain perks to leaders as long as they hold up their end of the bargain: step up when it matters and protect the group. For many new leaders, this will require a mindset shift — from “looking out for number one” to realizing that as Sinek says, “the perks of leadership come at the cost of self interest.”

It’s to be expected that this mindset won’t come naturally to everyone. Fortunately, like all of the leadership training topics on this list, it can be developed over time. 

 

12. Inclusion

It’s not uncommon for people to advance into a leadership position for their expertise in a particular discipline, without realizing the essential role they’ll play in supporting an inclusive culture. This creates a real need for L&D teams to prioritize inclusion in their leadership programming. It’s important to note however that lasting change requires an ongoing commitment to inclusion; attendance at a one-time workshop won’t be enough.

Training on this topic provides leaders with tools to recognize and reject biases, as well as practical ways to establish a welcoming environment for all. Creating this sort of environment begins with the recognition that differences add value to the entire organization, and that there is much insight to be gained from listening to diverse perspectives. 

 

13. Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is one of the most discussed leadership training topics of the day. Emotionally intelligent leaders have the self awareness to understand their own emotional needs, and social awareness which enables them to discern the needs of others. They’re able to adapt their behavior appropriately for any interpersonal situation. This set of skills is essential for leaders to build positive relationships with their own teams and others throughout the organization.

 

14. Leading across cultures 

Since the rise of remote work, it’s become even more common for teams to collaborate across time zones and entire continents. Leaders of global organizations should feel comfortable making the structural and process changes necessary to support their dispersed teams. Leading across cultures also requires skills like active listening, openness and curiosity about cultural differences, and respect for multiple perspectives on the same issue.

 

15. Servant leadership

According to a recent Forbes article, today’s employees expect leaders to put the needs of the workforce first. This leadership style, also known as servant leadership, measures success in terms of employee engagement and satisfaction. The National Society of Leadership and Success describes some of the key principles of servant leadership as:

  • Active listening
  • Empathy
  • A commitment to the growth of others
  • Community-building
  • Self awareness and accountability

 

Final note

John F. Kennedy once wrote, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” It’s true that good leaders never stop growing. No matter how much they’ve learned or how confident they are, they recognize how much there is still to learn.

The leadership training topics on this list are only the beginning. They establish a foundation for effective leadership, but the best leaders practice ongoing conscious observation, self-reflection, and experimentation. 

L&D teams who promote a mindset of continuous learning can help ensure that the next generation of leaders will have what it takes to move their organization forward, no matter what the future may hold.

 

Source: here

]]> Are You a Leader Loyal to Your Values? Here’s How to Align Your Leadership Style With Your Values https://www.crossroadsvn.com/how-to-align-leadership-style-with-values/ Tue, 14 Feb 2023 10:35:00 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=208

When you hear the word “values,” you probably think of some personal examples, such as discipline or perseverance. Go one step further and consider leaders you admire. What values were behind the notable decisions they made or memorable actions they took? Were those values in alignment with their choices?

As a leader, I firmly believe that aligning your management style with your values is critical. Otherwise, you will come across as disingenuous. If a leader says they value trust but is constantly micromanaging the team, are they really trusting? You’ve likely considered this type of alignment when looking at your career moves or choosing a candidate at the polls. What about within yourself? Let’s explore how you can understand your values and align your leadership style accordingly.

Related: Do Core Values Still Matter Today?

 

Understand your values

To align your leadership style with your values, you must understand them first. Most of us have several core values that we live by. Of course, some may change over time, but you likely have a set of values that never change. These values guide you in decision-making, solving problems and building relationships. Core values also shape how you approach your work.

Examples of core values include honesty, integrity, commitment, respect, trust and communication. While individuals live by their core values, as many as 80% of companies and organizations have them. It’s up to leadership to carry out an organization’s core values, which affect employee behavior and company culture. Employees will see the misalignment if the company values state one thing and leaders behave differently.

Next, you’ll need to understand your leadership style.

 

What’s your leadership style?

The better you understand how you engage with others, the easier it will be to align with personal and company values. There are eight different kinds of leadership styles:

An autocratic leader takes control. Key characteristics of an autocratic leader include being results-centered, efficient and micromanaging. This type of leader wants to ensure employees abide by company policies and rely on leadership for instruction. An autocratic leader can be helpful in emergencies when less-experienced employees need clear instructions to reach a solution.

Charismatic leaders have a charming and magnetic management style. They are highly persuasive, committed to their cause, and interested in building relationships. A charismatic leader takes pride in rallying the team to achieve a goal. This management style often results in helping employees feel engaged, supported and motivated at work.

Democratic leaders are collaborative and experimental. A democratic management style promotes creativity, engagement and teamwork. A democratic leader enjoys getting input from the team before making decisions. This management style can lead to bonds between leaders and team members.

Laissez-faire or a “hands-off” leader promotes trust and growth among the team. These leaders encourage innovation, have confidence in their employees, and want independent staff. This leadership style works best with highly experienced professionals. When self-disciplined employees have more autonomy, they often demonstrate initiative.

Related: 7 Leadership Styles on Television Entrepreneurs Can Learn From

Leaders who utilize a coaching style of management may remind you of a sports team coach. Coach-like leaders can identify what motivates each employee and are dedicated to their team members’ development. Leaders with a coaching management style often encourage their employees to develop their talents further and create new opportunities.

A pacesetting leader creates high standards for the team and is always looking for ways to be productive. This type of leader has high expectations and overwhelms employees with demands. This management style can help build trust among employees who recognize their manager adheres to the same standards they set for their team.

Leaders with a bureaucratic management style utilize a well-defined hierarchy for tasks. A bureaucratic leader is focused on following rules, is less concerned with collaboration and assigns each employee responsibilities and tasks. This leadership style is helpful in heavily regulated industries but less effective in creative environments.

Transactional leaders improve employee performance via rewards, such as incentives and monetary bonuses. A leader with a transactional management style acts as a mentor for employees, provides detailed instruction to ensure expectations are met, and responds to adverse outcomes with disciplinary actions. This management style is highly effective in helping teams hit sales and revenue goals but less helpful in leading teams or departments focused on driving innovation.

Now that you’ve identified your core values and leadership style, it’s time to get them in sync.

 

Align your values with your leadership style

1. State your intentions

Kick things off by formally defining your values and purpose in a written statement. Your purpose is what you want to accomplish, for whom, and to what result. Your values will precisely guide how you tackle the goals outlined in your purpose.

Then, share your purpose and values with your team. Your purpose can be an evolving document that changes with experience, but you’ll hold each other accountable as a team.

2. Behave consistently

Now it’s time to act on the standards you’ve set. Look at actions, decisions, and plans through the lens of your purpose and core values. If there’s any misalignment, talk to other leaders you trust within the company. Each day, strive to go home knowing you did your best to stay aligned with your values. If you retroactively catch yourself misaligned, ensure you take proactive action the next day to remedy the decision or action.

Related: This Is Why It’s So Important to Articulate Your Brand Values

3. Seek feedback

Stay true to your word by encouraging honest feedback. Make it clear that you’re trying to act in alignment with your values regularly.

Structure your feedback discussions and ask how you can do better. When the conversation ends, genuinely thank them for taking the time to help you understand their viewpoint.

In addition to seeking feedback, regularly check in to refine your purpose and values and share it with your team.

Understanding your values and aligning them with your leadership style takes time and practice, especially in an evolving company setting. Be open to change and feedback to adjust your actions accordingly.

Related: 4 Ways to Balance Company Rules With Values

 

Source: here

]]> Companies Should Revise Their Core Values Every 2 to 3 Years. Here’s Why (and How) https://www.crossroadsvn.com/companies-should-revise-their-core-values-every-2-to-3-years-heres-why-and-how/ Tue, 14 Feb 2023 09:36:00 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=210

Company values may appear to be static.

 

That’s because for long stretches of time, they are. At inflection moments in the life of your company, you gather your team together to assess the company’s reason for existing–the characteristics you want to embody and advance in the world. Until the next inflection point, these values remain the same.

But, if left unchanged for too long, a list of core values goes stale.

Markets evolve. Your company evolves. Your values should evolve, too.

At ThirdLove, we recently revamped our values. Partly, it was prompted by my re-read of Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brand, about the importance of building a company around storytelling (a great read). But also, it was because the world since Covid looks dramatically different than it did before. Everyone needs to know why we do what we do every day in this historical moment; we revised our value articulation to reflect these changes.

Here’s the process we used to update our values

 

1. We split our leadership team into five groups (one for each value).

Any values exercise starts with expressing who you are and why you exist. Even if you’ve gone through this exercise before and feel confident in your messaging, massive changes (internal and external) should prompt you to repeat the exercise. Some sample questions include:

  • What do we do? Not only what product or service you offer, but what impact does this have on your customers’ lives?
  • Why would someone join our company? What is your mission and culture? Why would they lead someone to want to work for you? What growth opportunities do you provide?
  • What are the characteristics of successful team members? Who are the people who’ve advanced most successfully through your organization? Do they have any common characteristics?
 

2. We split our leadership team into five groups (one for each value). 

Working with a goal of perfecting five values, each team’s goal was to assess the existing wording and make adjustments as necessary.

 

3. Redrafted values’ sub-bullets. 

Our finding from the first two stages of the values exercise was that while the values themselves didn’t need to change, the sub-bullets–imperative phrases we use to turn values into action statements–did.

 

For example, one of our values is “Every day is a new day.” The sub-bullet changed from “Approach new situations with a positive mindset” to “Be adaptable and resilient.” The latter wording is punchier, and “adaptability” and “resilience” are more precise expressions of the attitude it takes to treat every day as a new day.

 

4. Presented the revised value statements to the company. 

The last step in a values exercise is to get everyone oriented around common goals. Having revised our value statements, the respective sub-teams within the leadership team presented their revisions to the company. 

When these updated values will come in handy:

  • Hiring. A culture is literally created by the people who constitute it. Core values give you a list of criteria when hiring–when identifying the people who will create your culture every day.
  • Day-to-day operations and management. A word is only as meaningful as the action it provokes. The more clearly and accurately you articulate your values, the more your managers will exemplify them, and thus the more each team member will act with them in mind.
  • KPIs and rewards. Saying you want to uphold values is one thing; identifying metrics that assess the extent to which you’ve upheld your values is quite another. Values give you a qualitative framework for determining your most important metrics–and rewarding those who help fulfill them.

Revised values will take a while to set in. That’s partly because values are embodied through actions, and especially if you make dramatic changes to your values, it will take some time for your team members’ actions to catch up. It’s also because it will take some time to make new hires–to bring people on under the banner of your revised values.

All of which is to say, don’t worry if a revised values exercise doesn’t produce immediate results. It’s not supposed to. It’s supposed to be an incremental steering adjustment that gets you to your long-term goal more efficiently.

 

Source: here

]]> Prestige industry awards https://www.crossroadsvn.com/post005/ Sat, 15 Feb 2020 05:42:00 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=215

Lorem ipsum: elementum ac sed & iaculis eu neque.

Quisque vitae felis enim. Aenean erat mauris, pellentesque eu pellentesque id, volutpat vel nisl. Quisque id dui eu ex efficitur tristique. Vestibulum eget ex bibendum, ullamcorper mi a, commodo turpis. Maecenas suscipit massa lorem, vitae imperdiet neque ultrices a. Suspendisse arcu ipsum, elementum ac viverra sed, iaculis eu neque. Ut sed leo non magna ullamcorper laoreet sit amet in ante dolor amet.

Lorem ipsum

Morbi tincidunt enim id blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget.

Vivamus ligula felis

Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae massa ac, tincidunt orci.

Libero vehicula ligula

Morbi tincidunt enim id blandit sodales. Sed sed libero dictum vitae tincidunt.

Tincidunt tortor

Blandit sodales. Sed sed libero  ligula felis, dictum vitae massa ac, tincidunt orci.

Conclusion

Vestibulum eget ex bibendum, ullamcorper mi a, commodo turpis. Maecenas suscipit massa lorem, vitae imperdiet neque ultrices a. Suspendisse arcu ipsum, elementum ac viverra sed, iaculis eu neque. Ut sed leo non magna ullamcorper laoreet sit amet in ante dolor amet.

]]> Business consulting ethics https://www.crossroadsvn.com/post006/ Thu, 13 Feb 2020 05:35:08 +0000 https://the7.io/consulting/?p=206

What you need to know

Quisque vitae felis enim. Aenean erat mauris, pellentesque eu pellentesque id, volutpat vel nisl. Quisque id dui eu ex efficitur tristique. Vestibulum eget ex bibendum, ullamcorper mi a, commodo turpis. Maecenas suscipit massa lorem, vitae imperdiet neque ultrices a. Suspendisse arcu ipsum, elementum ac viverra sed, iaculis eu neque. Ut sed leo non magna ullamcorper laoreet sit amet in ante dolor amet.

01.

Guaranteed results

Morbi tincidunt enim id blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae tincidunt orci.

02.

Perfect implementation

Blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae massa ac, tincidunt orci.

03.

International experience

Bblandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae massa ac, tincidunt orci.

04.

Positive feedback

Lorem enim – dolor id blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae massa.

Future trends

Quisque vitae felis enim. Aenean erat mauris, pellentesque eu pellentesque id, volutpat vel nisl. Quisque id dui eu ex efficitur tristique. Vestibulum eget ex bibendum, ullamcorper mi a, commodo turpis. Maecenas suscipit massa lorem, vitae imperdiet neque ultrices a. Suspendisse arcu ipsum, elementum ac viverra sed, iaculis eu neque. Ut sed leo non magna ullamcorper laoreet sit amet in ante dolor amet.

cons007

Vivamus ligula felis dictum vitae tincidunt orci

Morbi tincidunt enim id blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae tincidunt orci.

cons006

Sed sed libero vehicula cursus leo eget dolor

Blandit sodales. Sed sed libero vehicula, cursus leo eget, tincidunt tortor. Vivamus ligula felis, dictum vitae massa ac, tincidunt orci.

Conclusion

Quisque vitae felis enim. Aenean erat mauris, pellentesque eu pellentesque id, volutpat vel nisl. Quisque id dui eu ex efficitur tristique. Vestibulum eget ex bibendum, ullamcorper mi a, commodo turpis. Maecenas suscipit massa lorem, vitae imperdiet neque ultrices a. Suspendisse arcu ipsum, elementum ac viverra sed, iaculis eu neque. Ut sed leo non magna ullamcorper laoreet sit amet in ante dolor amet.

]]>