Culture and Values

Many companies spend significant resources to promote brand awareness to customers, employees, and investors. A common part of the brand is often core values and cultural standards which positively distinguish the company from their peers. Unfortunately as recent new stories confirm, the acts of board members, senior officials and other employees often negatively distinguish them. Examples closer to home include a school superintendent, a police chief, a city administrator, and perhaps even people down the street or next door.

In Peak Perspectives we often have articles on leadership and job fit, two key drivers of employee success. However, a vital element of job fit is sometimes taken for granted. That element is fit with the company’s culture and values. Specifically are the candidate’s normal behaviors and attitudes aligned with the leaders as well as with other employees? If it is a wide gap, the new employee likely will either be dissatisfied enough to quit or the supervisor will fire them. Either outcome is bound to be costly. If the gap is narrower the impact may be more subtle such as a gradual deterioration of the company culture and values. That outcome can of course be even costlier.

As always we welcome your comments and feedback.

Employer / Employee of Choice – A Win-Win Scenario

Over the last several years we interviewed a number of CEO’s of local companies that were selected through an employee survey process as being the best place to work among similar size companies competing in the contest.  There were a variety of descriptions but they all said essentially the same thing that was articulated very well by one of the CEO’s.  He said “if they are not going to vote saying we’re the best we don’t let them vote.”  That was not an implication they were rigging the vote but rather that they had rigorous selection and performance management procedures to make sure only people who fit their jobs and organizational culture were hired and retained.


When you ask employees why they consider an employer to be their best choice they too have a consistent message which is essentially ‘if the organization doesn't provide what I want for my effort I won’t be here to vote.’  Employees want a job they can do with new challenges to help them grow and develop; work that they are interested in; and a culture where they can be themselves and succeed.  In addition to fitting the job they want a leader who understands them; communicates well; recognizes their contribution and helps them grow personally and professionally.  In general they want to be a valued member of a winning team.


To attract and keep the best, employers need to be the best.  If your workforce procedures are not creating win-win solutions in selection and development of employees it’s time to make a change or watch the changes as the best ones leave.

Average is Good - Not Great

Have you ever comforted someone by saying ‘That’s OK, we all do that’ or perhaps simply ‘you’re fine’ or ‘that’s fine’? In many settings those comments are socially appropriate and intended to put the other person at ease. However, when those simple phrases show up in a business conversation it can be a warning sign that people are settling for being average rather than striving to be great.

Leaders particularly need to be aware of their communication and how it is perceived. Caring and comforting can be appropriate at times but leaders at any level need to diligently challenge their organization to not succumb to the tendency to be average.

Average is the easy solution and justifying it happens frequently by comparing to others and copying successful strategies and processes. Many workplace innovations are like high tides that lift all boats. It can feel good to see progress from a past benchmark but look around and you may still be average or even slipping.

Greatness comes from doing what the average has not thought of or is not willing to do. It is playing to win rather than playing not to lose. Make it a Great 2012; play to win!

A Winning Team

With March comes the ‘madness’ of the NCAA basketball tournaments for men and women. Teams and their fans will all be proud, excited, and hopeful as the first games tip off. As fans we like to be connected to winning teams and celebrate championships and other accomplishments. If you watch some of the tournament games, notice the energy and enthusiasm generated in the crowd when the game starts and then how different that is for the winning and losing teams’ fans at the end of the game.

Which energy do you want in your organization and in your own job? Of course, we want to have the energy and enthusiasm of the winning team. However, such energy and enthusiasm is rarely evident in most organizations. While sustaining that level for 40 hours rather than 40 minutes is one factor, another key reason is the scoreboard. Most organizations lack a clear scoreboard or feedback system to clearly and frequently tell everyone how they are performing personally and collectively so they can step up to meet the challenge at hand. No wonder, according research on workplace engagement, most employees do not feel like champions or members of a winning team. They may not know what their score is or if anyone cares what it is.

If you want to develop some leadership insights while also enjoying the games, notice the differences between the winners and losers: the effectiveness of the leadership; the team members fitting their individual roles while also working together; and how they all respond to feedback from the record of the results they produce. Then consider what parts are present or missing from your team. If you would like further insights on how to create a winning team, let us know. Our mission is to develop winning teams for our clients – without the ‘madness’!

Earn More Spend Less

Our 2012 theme to Occupy Prosperity could be like a resolution to lose weight and fade to a faint memory a few weeks into the year. Resolutions usually fail because they focus on the end result rather than the action steps that can be influenced and predict the end result. Weight loss for example is assured if calories burnt regularly exceed calories consumed. Those two variables can be influenced by watching what we eat and how active we are. Together they very reliably predict weight loss or weight gain.

To Occupy Prosperity two fundamental variables that can be influenced and will predict the end result are earning and spending on both business and personal levels. For businesses payroll is usually the biggest expense and of course increasing sales is the quickest way to improve bottom line results. The two actually go hand in hand. We recently showed a company how they could increase gross profit from 1.5% to 7% by reassigning employees to roles where they were a better match to requirements of the job. With minimal investment their ROI was 1,500%! Optimizing sales by selecting the right people and using targeted individual development of existing employees the training scrap rate is reduced. For other positions reducing expenses of turnover, training, and low productivity can all be influenced by implementing a well-designed workforce development process.

On both a business and personal level we have found a vehicle that combines both expense reduction and income generation. Actually it was costing Peak Pathways NOT to be a member of Team National. Taking the concept of group buying power to the internet with national name brand products and retailers, as well a locally owned businesses, substantial discounts and rebates are available on many common things people and businesses buy every day. On top of that there are several other ways to generate significant income by bringing in new members.

Let us know how we can help you influence and predict a prosperous 2012!

Occupy Prosperity

Despite all the concerns early in 2011 carmageddon did not materialize in southern California and therefore the clever term for a high volume traffic detour and traffic jam was not the word of the year. The winner was occupy – as in Wall Street. Controlling, engaging, and inhabiting each seem to be a few of the actions implied by that word and in those contexts occupy can be an appropriate descriptor for any intended objective. For example: occupy – bankers; journalists; main street; customers; sales; employees; health etc.

Our theme for 2012 is Occupy Prosperity. In 2012 we will offer insights to help our readers prosper as business owners, leaders and employees. Since Peak Pathways was founded in 2003 our objective has been and remains to help people succeed in work and life. The emphasis to Occupy Prosperity in 2012 is to help all of our readers and clients achieve more in 2012. In addition to the articles for learning about successful leadership and workforce development strategies this edition also includes information to nominate yourself or someone else to participate in the launch of our first Leadership Charisma groups.

We wish you a happy and prosperous 2012!

Charisma and Engagement

For the last few months I have been highlighting specific principles and behaviors of Leadership Charisma. Each of those past articles can be accessed through the newsletter archive. This month summarizes and ties it all together.

The principles of Leadership Charisma are WIIFM and the Charismatic Equation. WIIFM – What’s In It For Me. Essentially that principle states that leaders who are seen to be charismatic in the eyes of their people are those who make it their business to always know precisely what it is that interests and motivates their people. The Charismatic Equation states that the extent to which you are perceived as being charismatic is directly proportional to the extent to which people either feel or fare better after each interaction with you. These two principles are the foundation for the six key behaviors we identified: Communication; Tailoring Your Vision; being a Beacon of Positivity; displaying Energy and Enthusiasm; Recognizing the Greatness in Others; and the Power of Belief in People. Collectively they give us the definition of Charisma “... a special quality of leadership that captures the popular imagination and inspires allegiance and devotion.”

It is striking to see how closely parallel Charisma is to Employee Engagement “... a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort in his or her work.” Charisma and engagement are two sides of the same coin!

If you are interested in learning more about Charisma and Engagement we have two free offers this month. One is a Self Leadership Charisma assessment that you can complete in a few minutes online and learn how charismatic you see you yourself. If you would like to have this free personal information simply send an e-mail to info@peakpathways.com and within a few days you will receive an invitation to complete the online assessment. The second offer is for a free case study of how Peak Pathways’ client Woodmen of the World has increased employee engagement since 2008. More information along with details for requesting that are in the Featured Case Study article below.

Also we are happy to announce that early in 2012 we will begin Leadership Charisma group coaching for individuals who want to meet regularly with a coach and trusted peers from other organizations to develop leadership skills while also giving feedback and support to one another to succeed in meeting the challenges of leading people. Specific information will be released in the next few weeks however if you or someone you know would like to be one of the first to have an opportunity to participate please send an e-mail to info@peakpathways.com

Enjoy celebrating the holiday season and make 2012 a wonderful year in all respects!