With all the uncertainty in the world over the last few months, many people are reflecting upon what’s truly important in their lives and businesses. Most business owners are appreciating the people that impact their success more than ever, from clients to their support systems at home to their team members who influence company culture.
The culture of an organization can be defined as the collective behavior of the people who belong to it. This is true in every company serving every market in the world. If a number could be used to track culture, I would list it on a balance sheet in the assets column; that is how strongly I believe culture impacts growth, profitability and excellent customer service.
With everything that’s been going on, team members and consumers have all been looking at companies with a more discerning eye; deciding if they like and relate to how your company handles itself during uncertain times. A positive mindset, culture and high standards work wonders for team and client perception of your company.
However, many business owners and managers seem to act as though culture is just something that happens. The team members dictate the culture and then we, as the organization’s leaders, simply accept it. This is not the way to build positivity and efficiency; it takes guidance and focus.
As leaders, we have a responsibility to both our team members and clients to make a conscious decision about what type of culture our company embodies. There has been a great deal of research done regarding different cultural behaviors in businesses, but I want to focus on one concept that will help you build and maintain momentum as you grow your own abilities as well as your business.
There are many ingredients that go into the recipe that yields a consistently positive, growth-focused culture. This is true regarding your own leadership abilities, as well as how effectively your company functions. We all measure return on investment in various ways, and the most common method is tied to bottom line profit versus costs of doing business. There are many other investments we make in our companies that are far beyond the checkbook (such as culture) and these are more elusive because it’s harder to calculate an exact return.
THE RIGHT MINDSET
One of the things I’ve recognized as a commonality with all of our clients who are experiencing multiplied growth has to do with their mindset and how they see their industry as a whole. A leader’s mindset and focus directly affects the culture of the organization.
If your own perception is: This is a difficult business, there is not enough skilled labor, no one is coming into the trades anymore and the bulk of the future of our industry will be served by Google and Amazon, then you’ve got a very specific mindset. I might also add that this is a limiting belief mindset, and does absolutely nothing to help you move the needle in the right direction when it comes to your current business reality.
Before you stop reading because you’re thinking I’ve got my head in the sand and I don’t understand your true problems, let me be clear about something: I’m not saying there aren’t inherent challenges that we all face in our current companies. The challenges we are up against are strongly backed up by certain statistics confirming the “doom and gloom” that we will face.
However, make no mistake that despite what the statistics say and what direction our great industry takes moving forward, you must keep (and consistently build) your own confidence and culture so you and your team know they will be winners and come out on top no matter what happens. Regardless of politics, regardless of the overall state of the economy and regardless of what’s happening in the world at large, we have to maintain the belief that we will come out on top as professionals in this industry.
Multiplier Mindset Culture can be defined in many different ways, but I want you to think about just the combination of the words “multiplier mindset” and what they can mean to your life and organization when you apply this type of thinking to your current situation. When you begin to condition your mind into a higher level of thinking, your standards begin to change. You start to expect more from yourself, your company and those around you.
GOALS AND STANDARDS
Tony Robbins teaches a concept about the fact that we don’t always reach our goals, but we always reach our standards. Most clients come to The Blue Collar Success Group with their standards set at levels much lower than what they deserve for their lives and businesses. Part of my personal mission and purpose in life is to help raise the standards of all in-home service providers.
Think about your own situation and how your results are looking right now. Does your current reality meet the standard you desire for your life and family? Or, are you tolerating specific things such as limiting beliefs, behaviors and negative company culture that are actually holding you back from what you deserve?
When you have a limiting belief mindset or pay too much attention to the constant negative news, you can actually lower your own standards without even realizing it. This happens because you can unconsciously become focused on all of the terrible things “going wrong” in your world as well as the world around you.
To immediately impact your life and team members in a positive way, I would highly recommend focusing on all the incredible things going well that you’ve got to be grateful for right now. In conjunction with this focus, always continue seeking solutions for current challenges in your life and organization.
Developing a Multiplier Mindset Culture will get you and your team to build confidence in your processes as well as each other. Begin to catch yourself when you become focused on negativity, or start blaming others (including your team members), for challenges the company is facing. When you catch yourself in a negative pattern, immediately interrupt this habitual thinking with a strong belief and knowing within your core that you can accomplish great things, regardless of circumstance. You must know in your heart that you are the correct person to establish and lead your company culture.
Leaders that develop Multiplier Mindset Cultures do not become free of challenges, by any means. In fact, more often than not, our biggest breakthroughs and accomplishments come right after overcoming our biggest obstacles.
However, when you have a culture focused on growth and abundance, multiplying team talents and improving customer service methods, you create a huge advantage in the marketplace. This is true because now your company has a better way of deciding what’s truly important, knowing they are part of a strong company that will win no matter what.
Make it a must to consciously abandon the limiting belief mindset and adopt the Multiplier Mindset within your culture. When you do this, it will impact fellow leaders, trickle down to all team members and eventually have a huge impact on your culture and profitability. There are actually huge opportunities right now to focus on your mindset and give people reasons to do business with you and build a culture of superstars that will help build your business for years to come.
