LEADERSHIP STRATEGY: INSPIRE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH
a solid foundation produces solid results
They hang prominently on lobby walls, get published in annual reports, and appear on most corporate websites. When asked to recite their lofty declarations, too many managers have to extract them from desk drawers. Corporate values…publishing them just seems like the right thing to do so PR firms rake in millions of dollars each year creating pithy phrases to impress customers, investors, and employees.
by LSI publisher Art McNeil
Such was the case a few years ago at Black and Decker. Thousands of dollars had been spent trying to wordsmith a values statement. A problem occurred when each country’s B&D president could not agree on any of the artful definitions presented by their PR firm—for example, Germany and Mexico remained far apart on definitions of quality. A values stalemate went on for several months.
I was called in to help CEO Nolan Archibald mediate a resolution—one of his senior executives had read my book, The “I” of the Hurricane: How to Generate and Focus Corporate Energy. The meeting was a command performance—all B&D presidents were in attendance because more than home office rhetoric was involved.
A large acquisition that was to carry itself in terms of cash flow had gone south. Archibald’s opening remarks were poignant. I paraphrase, “We face a major hurdle. The cash flow we expected form our recent investment is not materializing. Corporate needs cash desperately. You folks are already producing world class results so its doubtful that we can manage our way out of this mess—a mess not of your making. I’ve asked Achieve CEO Art McNeil to help us revisit the basics. We need inspiration, like the leadership that helped our founders succeed in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds. Art’s going to help us clarify our values and focus a vision of the preferred future. I know you’ll will come up with solutions if we build on a solid foundation of what we all believe and focus a clear vision of our preferred future.”
Using a workshop model that I had originally designed to help indigenous communities develop a heritage-based vision of tribal futures, B&D (in 2 ½ hours) achieved a 100% acceptance of the values they had just clarified. They also focused the future tense of these values into a vision of their preferred future—a future capable of carrying the company’s increased debt load.
An E book describes this values clarification process in detail. For a complimentary download for PC and MAC visit www.BatonManagementSystem.com (read pages 34 TO 42). Also available in E bookstores. A outline of this workshop is available at www.artmcneil.com/workshops