DISHER has been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the top 5 small company workplaces. In this interview with founder Jeff Disher, he shares insight into how he has cultivated the company culture, and how this powerful culture helped shape DISHER’s success. Part 1 of my guest blog Culture Series.
Does culture matter at your company? If it does, where do you start in order to make it stronger? Here is some help answering both of those questions – prepare to be challenged to add the title of Chief Culture Officer to your job description.
Key people tip – spend your energy talking to your best people before they decide to leave. Sounds like common sense, but it is not common practice. Here are some real tips from an expert, and some additional info to help EOS companies leverage it to work toward 80% in the people component.
Do your people TRUST you as a leader? Here are three questions to test that by simply asking and listening. The hidden benefit of asking a great question and listening is that it actually builds trust.
Have you ever seen a group of leaders start becoming a team? The irony is that it does not take a ropes course or a walk in the mountains to find the danger that binds leaders together. EOS® creates opportunities for groups to become teams every time we get together. This story is based on several dozen EOS moments that I have experienced with teams on the journey to achieve what I have learned to call vision, traction, and healthy.
How well do you manage change? More directly, how skilled are you at seeking the help of your peers, leaders, and key people when leading a team through a difficult change? Too often leaders treat Help like a four letter word, never to be uttered lest we be punished! Here is a lens to assist leaders in seeing their role in supporting in and dumping out, so that help becomes part of the process of change and healing.
What is the impact of being a loner? What is the impact of feeling a part of a community? Data provides the answer, and the message is consistent and powerful for finding friends and building connections in our teams. Here is a sip of data, and 4 things every leader needs to do to drive towards the positive side of community, both personally and with the team they lead.
Leadership lessons are all around us. Here is a lesson I learned around EGO during a golf game. The irony is that I failed to listen to the exact words I wrote and the metric(my score) reflected it. Here is how to identify where your ego is getting in your way and three questions to step back and reset. Watching the movie Tin Cup is your homework if you want to explore the topic further.
We lead in all aspects of our life, and where we get into trouble is when we stop doing it. We also make things harder for ourselves when wisdom and skills gained to help us be successful in one of our leadership roles does not get applied in other areas. Hint – being an effective active listener as a manager can also help you as a mother, father, friend, or neighbor. Here is part 1 of a 3-part series on doing this effectively.
Stress can kill you, or it can make you healthier. Did you know it is your choice which one happens? Here is a TED talk that gives a great perspective based on research. People-centered leaders and EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) leaders need to read this.
Leaders need to learn how to create situations where they are able to listen well. It is one of the most common issues for the people I coach. Here is an example of how I listened to a group of leaders within an EOS® company I work with and what their questions told me. People-centered leaders know how to listen.
I don’t have enough time! This is not new for leaders. Some evidence of this can be found in Stephen Covey’s classic book, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’. Published in 1989, he pushed for people to set aside time to ‘sharpen the saw’. In EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), we call them clarity breaks. Here are two tips I have found helpful in my own personal journey of making this a habit.