#FPF – Week 86
I am writing this message on Thursday evening – having just come back from a wedding rehearsal/dinner for Wes (Director of Operations for Captivation) and his soon-to-be bride Melissa. As I reflect on the last 15 years that the company has been in existence, and all of the crazy times along with way, one constant has always been Wes.
This got me thinking about the value of long-standing (loyal) team members, as the right ones are both your external and internal brand ambassadors helping to permeate culture from the very core of their being. If I’m not there for any reason, I know that Wes (as well as my other team members for that matter) are there to rock out whatever client work that needs to be done – because we all genuinely care about the business and each other.
I have seen recently that not all operators carry this same approach to their staff – making for a revolving door of new blood that never becomes fully vested in the organization. It’s taken us 15 years to get to 8 team members, by design. We have always tried to grow smartly without stressing our current receivables. Having the right people on board has played a pivotal role in this happening.
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins shares that the transformational businesses from his research approach growth similarly to that of filling seats on a bus – in essence: “Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.”
So many people hire team members to get their business to a certain destination. Instead, when you focus on getting the right people on the bus, your time together becomes less about the destination and more about the journey. As most of us have experienced already in life and in business – the target destination can change, but if your team enjoys [traveling together] then it doesn’t really matter where the finish line is (or if it changes) – your opportunities for success still remain very high.
Who’s on your bus? (and more importantly, who needs to get off?)
Thank you for reading and have a great weekend!