Intentions from Pat Swan

Last month, I discussed some personality characteristics that could stand in the way of successful transition. This month, I want to focus on a success story.

I recently interviewed a woman who was asked to be CEO of a medium-sized manufacturing company, in a small town in Wisconsin. She was a numbers person, and had worked as CFO for the business owner in the past. I will call her "Judy". In a few short years, she has grown the company and its profits, beyond any expectations. She has been given community awards, and helped her company become the proud recipient of a government grant for creating new jobs in her community.

When she initially accepted the position, Judy took one look at the numbers and knew she had to do something drastic. For the company to grow and be profitable, she would have to come up with a creative strategic plan. I might add, that by her own admission, Judy did not particularly like managing people and preferred to stay in her office and work the numbers. But she realized that her employees were the key. If they performed well, the company would grow and thrive, if they did not, she would not get the numbers she needed to be successful.

The first thing Judy did was to eliminate quite a few supervisory positions. She did not eliminate the employees, she eliminated the positions. She placed individuals back into the general employee pool, working in the areas of their expertise. Her reasoning was that a large proportion of potential profit was going to maintain supervisory positions. She felt that supervisors were acting more like babysitters, that adult employees should not require babysitters, and that these supervisors could be more productive working in their prospective areas of expertise.

Then Judy brought her management team together to create "Core Behavioral Expectations" for all employees. This was a new strategy, never used by anyone in management, and the results could not be predicted.

The management team spent quite a bit of time discussing, defining and redefining these, and eventually came up with five core behavioral expectations. Employees would be expected to manifest these behaviors, or they would not be a fit for the company. Each expectation has numerous points, further defining expectations, which are beyond the scope of this article. The following are their five core expectations:

In addition, the company developed levels of rewards and ways that the employees could feel a part of the company success. Every employee understands, and has access to, the numbers. Judy is still a numbers person. The numbers tell it all.

There is much to the process in the success of this small-town manufacturing company. But the key ingredient is their focus on employees, their personal responsibility and personality. Skills can be learned. The above traits cannot. The human resources representative in this organization is very candid with prospective employees about expectations. When employees refuse to live up to the expectations, they do not last.

What would happen in your company, if your employees accepted personal responsibility for the success of the company, communicated clearly with teammates and other departments, were highly motivated and dependable? Leadership coaching and team training can develop similar characteristics in your employees. Healthy organizational culture will boost your profits, improve retention, and turn your company into a winner too!

Personal Intentions for the month of June

The personality trait or Achilles Heel that most interferes with my success is: ___________________________________________________

This trait impacts my work performance by: ______________________

This trait impacts my personal success by: _______________________

This trait particularly interferes with: _____________________________

When I overcome this Achilles heel I will be able to: _________________

This will improve my health and well being by: ____________________

This will improve my performance at work by: _____________________

The person most impacted by this change will be: _________________

The learned strength that will replace and help me overcome this Achilles heel is: _______________________________________________________

For the next seven days I will focus on developing this learned strength. Every day, I intend to practice one of the following:

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________

Get a year's worth of Intentions, in full color, with attractive pictures and workbook, hard copy or CD, at www.patswan.com.

Successful Change Management: Understanding People

Personal Intentions for the month of June