PD Strategies Blog

Have you felt that you are on an uphill climb? The people in your organization are stuck in a rut. New energetic people do not stay. Your organization has a culture issue. It may have evolved over time, but you are not able to take the company where you want it to go. Changing culture takes a focused effort from leadership. Attitudes drive culture. I love what Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” But how do you change attitude? Some people, to your dismay, find their altitude suits them just fine. Positive attitude and positive vision are the starting points. Yes, you must be upbeat, positive about the future, and set the example. Model the right behaviors and attitudes and find other “heroes” to model it too. This starts the change in direction and attitudes, behaviors then become ingrained in the organization. The organization must have positive vision and...

There are important factors to check and measure for your business success. Generally, they are financial, process, and people. I focus on all three when I am helping my clients create or update their strategic plan. All three must be aligned. The reason for non-alignment in the business is a lack of clear vision and without a clear vision everyone is on a different page. While that is personally frustrating it can cost your company good employees and customers. In this post I will focus on the people part. Here are three people processes that need your attention: Let’s start with the focused leader. You may be the owner, the manager, or CEO but that does not mean you are the leader. You appoint yourself CEO, but your team will follow you if you are the leader.   As managers we can influence the process through which people recognize our leadership by...

There are many businesses with a good business plan and a sound marketing plan but if they don’t know why they are in business of what business they are in the are missing a key ingredient. Surprisingly, many businesses cannot say why they are in business, nor can they articulate their basic business foundation and founding principles. Why you are running the business is more important than how you run it. Any successful business needs to have vision—that is what the business will look like when it is successful. Your vision is your dream and as the song goes, you have to have a dream if you want to have a dream to come true. Your values are even more important. These are your ideals you live by. These are your non negotiables. If you know why you are in business, if you have a vision, and you have values you...

Successful organizations have successful leaders. A successful leader leads by positive example and provides motivation and inspiration. If you have problems with culture, you want to first examine the leadership of the team. If you are the leader, what examples are you setting? A recent example shows how an Applebee’s Restaurant executive set a terrible example. He might as well have said that his employee team members were only commodities. He allegedly told managers that employees and applicants are economically hurting, which he saw as an "advantage." He allegedly said that as inflation goes up and gas prices go up people will want to work more hours to maintain their standard of living. And he is alleged to have gone as far as suggesting lower pay scales. Imagine if you were an employee or manager in that organization. Can you describe the culture? If you were a guest in that restaurant...

How do you create a culture of accountability? Check you leaders. Who are the perceived heroes in your organization? What values do they exhibit by their actions? Try this. Write down the culture for which you want to strive. What actions and values create that culture? Do your leaders display those values and take those actions?   If not, then it is time to work on developing your leaders. Many times, we fear discussing these actions and behaviors because we fear causing alienation. Unless we take steps to change the culture, we will continue to have failure. The culture of accountability must be cascaded down from organizational leadership to senior leaders and to all supervisors. How does a manager or supervisor hold members of the staff responsible for performance? What about an employee who needs help but fears asking for help? The results can be devastating when we fail to have accountability...

Given the great resignation and difficulty finding employees it is easy for hiring managers to overreact. Don’t do it. The wrong people will do more damage than no people. Please remember that culture combined with team engagement has proven to improve outcomes including financial performance. Culture influences every area of the organization. It affects the public and customer perception, but it also affects the way people do their jobs and their connection to the mission and values of the organization. In short, an organization’s culture is seen in actions and behaviors which model the values it lives by. Your hiring process must support your culture. One organization states it this way in one of their cultural pillars. “We very carefully guard who gets to be an associate in our organization.” This organization looks at values, attitudes, and behaviors in making staff selections in addition to those skills needed to perform the...

Positive outlooks lead to positive results. Attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values make up a culture. Every organization has a culture, but the real question is whether it is a culture that produces positive outcomes. If it does not you may need an intervention to help sort out the culture you have versus the culture you want. Attitudes drive culture. Zig Ziglar said it best, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” The fact is that people do not put enough emphasis on how attitude affects performance. As leader you create the inspiration and model the optimum behavior. An organization that has a positive vision and values, and that has leadership that lives and promotes those values is creating a positive culture. But if there is a negative attitude at the top the culture of the organization is doomed. There is a strong link between attitude and performance. Let’s start with defining what attitude...

I mentioned previously that you don’t employees, but you need the right employees. You do need to make sure, of course, that they are the right fit. But what if you make offers to people that fit but they turn the offer down? It is time to look in the mirror and check your Employee Value Proposition.  An Employee Value Proposition explains why a highly qualified employee would want to work for your company and why that highly qualified person would want to stay. This Employee Value Proposition would be tied to your strategic plan and include your vision, your values, and, your mission. The values should include such things as social responsibility, ethical conduct, and reputation. All three together establishes your organization’s culture. Can you describe your culture? Every organization has a culture. Question is this. Is it the culture you want? The Employee Value Proposition EVP matters. Although people...

How do you become an employer of choice? You need a great employer brand and a positive Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Your brand is made up of pillars which are your values. Culture influences every area of the organization. It affects the public and customer perception, but it also affects the way people do their jobs and their connection to the mission and values of the organization. In short, an organization’s culture is seen in actions and behaviors which model the values it lives by. Your hiring process must support your culture. One organization lays out on of their cultural pillars this way: “We very carefully guard who gets to be an associate in our organization.” This organization looks at values, attitudes, and behaviors in making staff selections in addition to those skills needed to perform the job. Unfortunately, we find that managers tend to make hiring decisions by looking at...

How many people are making New Year’s Resolutions? How many have an intention of achieving the Resolution? There are several important points to making a resolution you intend to keep. You need a vison or dream, you need an action plan, and, above all, you need a deadline! Let’s start the process of defining your vision. Do an inventory of your dreams and write them down. Can you visualize them and verbalize them? This is the first step in goal achievement. To create the motivation to achieve your goal you must have a burning desire to reach it and that would come from a big dream. If you have made goals in the past and have not achieved them one reason may be that you did not have a burning desire and, therefore, not driven to achieve them. New Year’s resolutions fall into this category many times. When you think about...

Is it possible to predict a person’s future performance before they are hired? You can do this by behavior-based interviewing. If you are not looking at behavior when you are interviewing you should be. Jim Collins and his team laid out the principle in the book Good to Great. It is as simple as “Getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.” It may be simple but it’s not easy. You will need to change the way you hire people. Here is a simple fact. Managers tend to make hiring decisions by looking at background in the industry, jobs held before, and job history. Many companies even do background checks. They spend a significant amount of time looking at a candidate’s skills and knowledge before extending an employment offer. Fast forward. We now learn that an employee “is...

Due to these turbulent times you should be readjusting your business plan. Most business plans begin with a statement of vision, mission, and values. Mission and vision can change as is the case now. However, core values should never change. Values are more important than anything else when selecting team members. You may now need different skills; you may be changing job duties; you may have new protocols; but your values should be cast in stone! If you know your core values and stand behind them, you can change goals and set new direction with confidence. Your values will help you with your WHY. Moreover, your why is much more important than your how. How many businesses can say why they are in business or articulate their basic business foundation? You might be surprised at how few really can. Your core values are of greater importance than vision. These are the...

Depending upon the organization needs a culture change might be needed. People are updating their strategic plans in light of current turbulent conditions. It has been said that culture eats strategy for lunch. What does that mean? It means that everything comes from the culture of the organization. If you don’t have the culture that you want, you will have no choice but to change it. Attitudes drive culture. I love what Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” The fact is that people do not put enough emphasis on how attitude affects performance. If you are the leader of the organization your attitude affects the culture of your organization and, ultimately, its performance. An organization that has a positive vision and values, and that has leadership that lives and promotes those values is creating a positive culture. But if there is a negative attitude at the top the culture...

Sometimes it takes a crisis to present an opportunity for change. We may have been working hard and doing things that had limited value. Now we are in a situation to decide what needs to be done and what should be eliminated. How do you rebalance and move forward? Two things stand out for me. Be guided by your values and have a purpose then stay on course. You might say that this is your personal GPS. The comparison to using a GPS is an easy one. We have them in our car and on our phone. We use them to order a car on Uber or we use them to find a restaurant nearby. We have become more productive and less stressed because we have used this very simple tool to help us navigate. What is so remarkable about this instrument? First, it lets you know where you are now....

Every organization has a culture. Your organization has a culture too. Question is whether your culture is creating the outcomes you want. If it is not, then it is time to change the culture. Attitudes drive culture. I love what Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” The fact is that people do not put enough emphasis on how attitude affects performance. If you are the leader of the organization your attitude affects the culture of your organization and, ultimately, its performance. An organization that has a positive vision and values, and that has leadership that lives and promotes those values is creating a positive culture. But if there is a negative attitude at the top the culture of the organization is doomed. There is a strong link between attitude and performance. Let’s start with defining what attitude means in this context. An attitude is a pattern of thought. These...

Values are more important than anything else when selecting team members. While having different skills and ideas brings strength to a team, it is imperative that the team shares the same values. Are you clear about what you value? If you know your core values and stand behind them, you can set goals with confidence. Your values will help you with your WHY. Moreover, your why is much more important than your how. How many businesses can say why they are in business or articulate their basic business foundation? You might be surprised at how few really can. Any successful business needs to have vision—that is what the business will look like when it is successful. Your vision is your dream. You must have a dream if you want to have a dream to come true. Your core values are of greater importance than vision. These are the ideals that you...

It is important that a business clearly define its values and work with those who share those values. Unfortunately, many businesses still need to clearly define their core values so that there is no question where they stand. For that matter, how many businesses can say why they are in business or articulate their basic business foundation? You might be surprised at how few really can. Any successful business needs to have vision—that is what the business will look like when it is successful. You must have a dream if you want to have a dream come true. Your core values are of greater importance than vision. These are your ideals you live by. These are your non-negotiables. If you know why you are in business, if you have a vision, and you have values you may then build your marketing plan and you will know how to make the right...

Many people start a business and develop a plan to market and sell their product and service.  But if that is all they have, in my opinion, there is a key ingredient missing.  Your need vision if your business is to survive and thrive.  And you also need values.  They should make it perfectly clear what type of company you are.  Surprisingly, many businesses cannot say why they are in business nor can they articulate their basic business foundation and founding principles.  Why you are running the business is more important than how you run it.  If you find that statement hard to believe then read on. Any successful business needs to have vision—that is what the business will look like when it is successful.  Your vision is your dream and as Walt Disney said, you must have a dream if you want to have a dream to come true.  Of...

Knowing your core values and standing behind them will lead to success in your business and personal life. Unfortunately, many people cannot articulate their vision or their core values. Your values will help you with your WHY. Moreover, your why is much more important than the how. How many businesses can say why they are in business or articulate their basic business foundation? You might be surprised at how few really can. If you find that statement hard to believe then read on. Any successful business needs to have vision—that is what the business will look like when it is successful. Your vision is your dream and as Walt Disney said, “you have to have a dream if you want to have a dream to come true.” Your core values are of greater importance than vision. These are you ideals you live by. These are your non negotiables. If you know...

Are you reading one page of a book but your staff is on a different page? Worse than that, are they even reading the same book? In other words, are you taking a course of action, asking your staff to follow then turning and finding no one there? The best way to see that this does not happen is to make sure that you are a focused leader, that you empower your engaged employees, that they will in turn create loyal customers leading to growth and success. Focused Leader - You may be the owner, the manager, or CEO but that does not mean you are seen as the leader. You appoint yourself CEO but your team will follow you if you are the leader.   As manager you can influence the process through which people recognize your leadership. You do this by creating an environment where people will join your team....