Leadership - A Real Case Study

Earlier this summer, I had the good fortune to sit in on a client’s quarterly business meetings that were held in three locations in northwest Iowa. As part of the quarterly meetings, I was facilitating training sessions on preventing sexual harassment.

What I want to share is what the company’s CEO did to help all employees understand and live each working day to fulfill the company’s purpose, which is to be a “solutions provider” to their customers. You may want to incorporate the CEO’s process to talk about your company’s purpose and values with your staff.

At each site meeting, the CEO had a four-person employee team that came forward and responded to several questions from the CEO. The questions had to do with why it is imperative for all employees to be “solutions providers” every day at work. The questions he asked the teams were:

1. What does that mean to be a solutions provider?

2. How do we do that as a team?

3. How did we perform this spring and last fall at being a solutions provider?

4. Are there any areas or examples where we failed at being a solutions provider this spring or last fall? And, how did we improve on this?

At this point, the CEO reviewed the company’s values or “non-negotiables” that will not be comprised. The non-negotiables were:

• Integrity

• Safety

• Professionalism

• Client Focus

• Empowerment/Accountability

• Teamwork

Then, the CEO addressed this last question to the teams for their response.

1. Give an example of how you or a fellow team member you work with live our company’s values or non-negotiables?

Now, what the CEO did was simple, but characterized exemplary leadership. Here’s why. As a leader:

• He elicited the support of employees to vocalize the company’s purpose. Employees paid a lot more attention to their peers talking about being a solutions provider than if the CEO just talked. He created buy-in from employees.

• He invited employee teams to talk about where they failed and whether they learned from their mistakes. Leaders are not afraid to talk about mistakes. The message employees received is we make mistakes, and when we do, we improve upon them.

• He asked employee teams to tell their stories. Leaders know that stories are powerful influencers for employee commitment to do the right thing.

• Company values are non-negotiable. Why have company values if the CEO says they are not important or we can compromise them? This CEO meant it when he said their values are non-negotiables. Leaders know that the bedrock of an organization’s ability to value its employees and customers are its values. They must be lived day in and day out. And, it starts with the CEO!

Now, here is the most interesting part of the quarterly meetings. The CEO attended all the sexual harassment prevention training sessions, and met with the managers separately with me as the facilitator. Time and time again, the CEO would address behavior issues from the perspective of the company’s non-negotiable values and whether the behavior in question would have a negative impact as a solutions provider. He was teaching the company’s managers how to assess behavior and determine when it crossed the line. What an impressive showing of leadership that was from the heart and head!