January 20, 2011
What Are You Looking At?
Times are disruptive, distracting even. The economy’s recovery is uneven and slow; the job market is anemic; every bit of good news is countered by bad it seems. So, where is your focus? Are you focused on the threats that seem to be lined up outside your door? Or can you see clearly the possibilities and opportunities that are before you (you may have to look hard, but they are there).
Shift your focus for a moment to Fortune’s annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list. This list features 100 companies that are not looking at the wreckage of the economy. They are looking at the opportunities. How can they create better leaders? How can they innovate? How can they turn customers into advocates? How can they create new markets? And in asking those questions, they put forth the necessary initiatives to find the answers: they trust, empower and recognize their employees; they listen and communicate; they are transparent with data and forthcoming with answers. Sometimes they are even good corporate citizens. And some of them even pay well. Many have had workforce reductions, pay cuts, office closings and reduced product offerings. But they did it the right way: openly and honestly. And they earned the respect and loyalty of their employees and thus a place on the list.
You can see the full list here: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2011/full_list/.
Allow me to tout my pride for a moment: Stew Leonard’s ranked at No. 18 this year; this marks not only ten years in a row for Stew’s, but also the highest ranking to date. Stew Leonard’s hasn’t had any magic buffer that kept them from the same troubles every other business has faced; in fact, they’ve had their own unique set of problems this past year. But they moved up the list because they didn’t focus on their troubles, they looked inward at how they could get better at what they do, how they could grow, how they could continually be a better Stew’s.
So look at your business, and say honestly, what do you see?
