Decide who you will serve!

I smiled as I shut off my phone.  Martin Pastink, a friend, client and owner of RDK Concrete Cutting & Coring just relayed a powerful story about the impact of his choice to create a flourishing place in which his team can work.

Two weeks ago, a competitor offering significant raises in wage approached a couple of his key guys and leaders. The response to the offer was a clear “No”!

It hasn't always been that way! Two and a half years ago Martin had just received notice that two of his key guys were leaving. Adding salt to the proverbial wound, these two were not only leaving but also setting up a competing business “just down the road”. It felt like, at one level, a devastating train wreck! This happened at the height of his busy season, with more work than he could handle… the worst possible time.

Over the course of the next couple of years Martin chose to lean into these 6 critical steps. This enabled Martin and his team to shift the culture at RDK. The result?   Talented people would say “No” to significant wage increases elsewhere and choose to stay. 

Martin decided whom he would serve. Here are 6 critical steps he took to help shift the culture from a tough place to a great place to work. 

• Own it! You’re it. No one else owns the team culture more than the owner. One of your core responsibilities is to create and lead a culture that is, as we suggested in last week’s blog, “salt & light”!
• Face the facts. If needed, the brutal facts. No excuses! Avoiding the truth about what may be happening under your watch will not make the challenges go away. Ignore them to your “peril”.
• Learn from your team. You do not need to try and figure out how to “fix” your culture problem on your own. Your team will help…if you create the conditions that permit them to safely do so.
• Choose humility. I will virtually guarantee, at some level, this will be humbling for you. You have likely worked so very hard; maybe feeling a lack of appreciation from those around you regarding the sacrifices made. Step 1 still remains…you own it. No-one else on your team is in the owner’s chair. You will have made many mistakes. Be quick to leverage the “Art Of The Apology". 
• Create and execute a plan. Using the feedback from the team, have them help you build and execute the plan. Say “No” to the temptation of trying to change the culture on your own. Ensure you get ongoing feedback.
• Be resilient – stay the course. This will require some of your very best leadership. You will be tested as you navigate many “landmines”. Ensure you have a strong community to support you as you lead your team and its’ culture into a space of being “salt & light”.

Martin’s choice to lead a culture that is becoming more and more “salt and light”, a flourishing team culture, helped stave off an outside company taking some of his key talent.

Are you prepared for the same “assault”?

A Deliberate Application:

• Do you know if your key people would stay if they were presented with a significant wage increase?
• Is your answer assumption or fact?
• What’s the impact if you don't know?
• Email us for more information about a tool that can help you check your assumption.

DeliberateU-TUBE:

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