Successful managers and their teams are THE success and differentiation factor for every company – and often an extremely underestimated competitive advantage!
This blog is a matter to my heart: I was inspired on the one hand by my 20 years of experience at one of the best managed companies worldwide “the W.L. Gore & Associates ”and on the other hand from John Strelecky’s repeatedly read“ The Big Five for Life ”. In my view, the book is “true leadership” – and managers should know and live it!
Why are top-run companies so much more successful, profitable and robust than others? Why are the top talents of university graduates and the established top managers looking for these companies? Why is the customer loyalty of these companies so much better and more sustainable than that of others?
As always, it starts at the beginning. Ideally, it starts at the beginning. But you can also learn and change – if you are ready to work on yourself!
It starts with the people who start these companies. One thing is “inherent” to these founders and managers: what they do is an inner need, a vocation that drives them. Their fearlessness and tenacity lead them to success. Your profession becomes a vocation and a vital part of life. They do not know fear, as this would lead to failure.
But there is one more crucial difference between these people: they trust. They feel confirmed by the success of their employees and are not threatened. They encourage and develop others instead of just looking at their careers and keeping others down. They coach, teach and develop instead of blocking. They talk about and visualize success. Making mistakes is ok – as long as you learn from them and get up again with confidence.
These managers are able to find and deploy the right people for the right jobs. These capable people don’t need anyone to control them because they know how to do the job. Because they identify themselves with it and draw their motivation from working together in a team, as well as from the positive feedback they receive from their customers or their colleagues. People say: “I know what we want to achieve, and I think there are ways to get there.” The project success is almost self-evident. He leaves behind a super-motivated team that is ready for other tasks that the team members are largely looking for themselves.
However, project success is largely in danger by someone who is in the wrong place. Someone who is overwhelmed and acts outside of their motivations and abilities. The result is notorious dissatisfaction. Someone says: “We can never do it! Where is that supposed to lead to?” These team members hinder everyone else! They hinder themselves even more. Such people have to be removed from the team – otherwise they will destroy it!
Behind the scenes: My experience with the excellent manager Bill Gore
Bill Gore always asked his associates, “What is the purpose of an Enterprise?”
The answer was: “To make money!”
Then he asked: “What is the second purpose of an Enterprise?”
The answer was: “To make more money!”
Then Bill explained his answers: “If we don’t make money, we cannot hire people, we cannot pay wages, we cannot afford product development, we cannot contribute to our community environment, we cannot invest in expansion, we cannot survive bad phases – without to be dependent on other donors and to be controlled externally – don’t dare to experiment or live our corporate culture independently from others… “
What Bill Gore initiated in us was, that we felt like entrepreneurs in the company. As a result, we considered how our job and our team could help improve business success by making more money or being more effective and saving money by doing things differently and better than before. And he taught us to think in “output”. If we invest these costs and efforts, what output will we achieve? Is it worth it? Are there any more attractive projects? My own line of thought has always been: Would I invest my own private money in this project?
Now what does this have to do with people and managers?
Earning or losing money is affected by two key factors that are directly related to people:
The first is productivity. How efficient are people? The teams? What are you working on to make your contribution to the success of the company – within the framework of the rules that you know and that your managers have given you?
The second is fluctuation: How often do employees quit? How often do you replace people in key roles, with a lot of time and money investment? You probably know these effects well enough! Find out what the reasons are, when you have a fluctuation rate!
Don’t be afraid to look in the mirror – because the saying goes so often:
People don’t leave companies, but people leave their leaders!
“In Big Five for Life” the author speaks of:
- 22% higher sales increases
- 23% higher profit growth
- 67% lower fluctuation rate
This is the case when companies:
- Hire people who fit well with the corporate culture and the teams.
- Enable your employees to work independently and leave it up to them to manage themselves.
- Motivate your employees not primarily through financial incentives but through a family-like environment that is characterized by trust, respect and mutual support.
- These / your employees are led, inspired and coached by leadership – so that these leaders make themselves “superfluous” and face new challenges!
Incidentally, I can confirm the above figures from my “Gore History”. They are by no means “only” fancies of a successful author. Interested? At PERFORMANCE 5D, we can help you do just that.
Now I look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions!
