His drive was to create simple, intuitive products that achieved the full capability of the technology, that aligned closely with the way humans think and work, and that, because it extended our own vision and capabilities so greatly, made us love them.

He understood that people wouldn’t fall in love with a large plastic box on their desk, or a groovy colored cube or a palm-sized gizmo that also made phone calls. But what they would love is that someone put thought, consideration and passion into creating a product that we could easily use, that would expand our boundaries of possibility, and that would broaden our horizons.

Steve approached his business the opposite way most every other executive does: rather than building a thing and trying to get people to buy it, he built things that people would love when they tried them. And rather than setting limits for what he would build, he set unlimits to what he could build. The result was not just game changing, it was revolutionary. Steve Jobs fundamentally altered the way companies approach their businesses, because he fundamentally changed the expectations and measures that consumers have for the brands they interface with.

Steve was the rare visionary to intuitively put the customer’s vision at the center of his. And that is why he will be so greatly missed.

whitePaper_Culture_as_Stragey

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?

The great thing is, you can answer ‘no’ to both of these questions and still be ahead of the game–if you are thinking of how, not just who, you will get there. I have had the pleasure to work over the past few months with LRN, a leading ethics and compliance consulting firm, on a project that will take any company down just this path. It’s called the Inspirational Leadership Alliance. This web-based portal features training tools that will turn any level manager into an effective leader; it will equip your organization with the skills to drive innovation, derive creative solutions, to break down silos and get past politics. See the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU1xCufqE_0
and learn more here http://www.lrn.com/deliver-strategic-advice-guidance/inspirational-leadership-alliance.html.

Then get your mojo flowing; the new age of leadership is upon us.

Probably the greatest benefit to Fortune’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ values is financial. Some top-line examples from this year’s list include: Whole Foods, in the midst of the recession opened 14 new stores and doubled its stock price; Mercedes-Benz USA maintained its revenues and staffing levels despite a government bail out of the auto industry; Camden Property Trust, during a devastating real estate downturn, saw its stock plummet to $17, but after mobilizing its team was able to drive it back to $42; Zappos, with $1.5 billion in online sales, sold to Amazon for $847 million.

Even in a tough economy these companies prospered because they have crafted a solid value-based foundation. Because their employees trust them, they can turn to their team and ask for concessions; they can boost pride despite cost cutting; they can even conduct layoffs and still command the respect and adoration of exiting employees.

But cost cutting isn’t all: these companies see value and even revenue generated by their value systems.

Consider this: there is untapped revenue and unrealized savings in your business, and your team is the key to finding it: cost cutting, sales leads, pricing strategies, workplace conditions, greater employee learning and growth, predictable salary growth, and relationship-building with your customers. Your values will lead your team to find it for you.

Then, put numbers against each of these things. How much did you save? How much more did you sell versus last year? What new products were introduced? Did your salary line dovetail with your earnings line? How much of your business was from repeat customers? And what would your balance sheet look like without those things?

If you can account for cost savings and the increased revenue, you can see the real and tangible benefit of your value system.

What they do is defined by how they do it, and that is the difference between Fortune 100 companies and the typical company.

Of course, most companies profess a belief in the values that Fortune measures: trust, integrity, camaraderie, a commitment to employee learning and growth, a fulfilling work/life balance. But the Fortune list not only looks at how those values are embraced and exercised in the organization, it determines if they are earnest and effective.

A company doesn’t need Fortune’s recognition to know if its values are working: If team members are as engaged as management is, if they smile because they like being at work, if they strive to contribute to the strategic goals of the company, if they contribute intelligence and information that builds and forwards the organization’s goals, and if their personal objectives and reward goals are aligned with the company, then a company can see its values at work.

But when workplaces and teams are divisive or counter-productive, when people grumble, when leaders work separately from their team rather than in tandem, when teams feel managed rather than led by their leaders, an organization’s values become fractured and ineffective. Goals become out of reach. Strategies fall flat. Disappointment replaces optimism.

When you look at your team, what do you see? Your values hard at work, a possible place on the Fortune list next year? Or a dysfunctional, mal-aligned group that labors to the finish line quarter after quarter, barely making its goals (or missing them altogether)? If the answer is the latter, then ask yourself this: you’ve put the time and effort into creating a value structure; you know the benefits your values should have, and you even recognize in other organizations the rewards that those values bring. Now set your sights on the real challenge ahead: Getting your value set out of the theory stage and putting it to work in your organization.

Culture, it is becoming more and more recognized, is crucial.

A company’s culture is increasingly identified as a pivotal factor in competitiveness, innovation and profitability—the three areas that are key in any measure of success. More and more executives and thought leaders are seeing the direct line between how an environment operates and how the people in that environment think and feel, and the financial results and future outlook of the organization.

Which makes this year’s list all the more insightful: Goldman Sachs, on the same day the company reported record profits and bonuses, came in at #24 on the list. Embattled grocer Whole Foods, which opened 14 stores in 2009, came in at #18. Even Starbucks, which faced some of the worst effects of the recession, managed to maintain a spot on the list this year, finishing at #93. And of course the company that I worked with on the application, Stew Leonard’s, ranked #64, the grocer’s ninth year on the list.

Probably the biggest story on this year’s list, though, is Mercedes Benz USA, which made its ‘Best Company to Work For’ list debut at #49. In a year when other auto companies nearly went out of business, Mercedes bucked the trend, maintaining its profit margin, improving its quality, creating an emphasis on innovation and crafting a culture that is reflected in the opinion of its employees: They love it.

Read more about the best companies to work for at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/snapshots/1.html

Frustrated, I turned to leave then spotted an identical pair of shoes in the right size. I brought them to the clerk and asked for an exchange. With a roll of the eyes she took the tagged shoes, gave me the new pair and I left the store—with a negative impression of the company.

Probably one of the most impactful forces on your customer’s experience is the mindset and attitude of your Team. It’s seen in the smile (or lack of) that greets your customers; it’s the willingness (or obstinance) of your team to satisfy the customer’s needs, it’s the ambiance and environment they create in your store, it’s even the context they create for doing business and being in tune with your customers. So how do you get your team to engage? How do you get them to smile, to act proactively, to think from the customer’s perspective, to use all the training you’ve given them and still empower them to do their job as they see best?

One answer may be found in the experiments done by Dan Ariely and his team as relayed in his book “Predictably Irrational.” In his chapter on ‘Character’ he describes a study in which participants were invited to take a math test and be paid for their correct answers. In the control group participants handed in their papers, were graded and paid. In a second group, participants were allowed to self-grade their papers, tell the examiner the number of correct answers, and be paid. Naturally, the second group had higher scores. Then Ariely added a caveat: participants in the next few groups signed a code of ethics, were reminded of the honor system or reviewed a copy of the Ten Commandments. They then self graded and were paid for their correct answers. What Ariely found is that those who were aware of character expectations as they performed the work were more apt to adhere to them. When they knew they were expected to demonstrate strong character they were more likely to.

Could this principle apply to members of a team doing a job? And if so, what ‘code’ would be effective in reminding and securing the right behaviors from the team?

Don’t remind them of what they should be doing, remind them of how they should be doing it. Many companies that have successful engagement and consistent demonstration of character post their expectations and discuss them frequently; they have regular training workshops and the language of these expectations becomes a part of the workplace dialogue. These companies teach their team how to develop a rapport with customers and then incentivize that behavior through rewards, commissions, recognition and other means; those who perform great customer service, or develop innovations that are beneficial to all, or go above and beyond on the job are publicly recognized and monetarily rewarded: it’s a powerful combination that solidifies the effort within the culture. It’s a challenge that ranges from the rah-rah to stealthily-crafted messages, but in the end it’s all the same: are you reaffirming the integrity of your company’s character with your team?

http://www.marketinglagniappe.com/blog/2009/12/06/stew-leonards-my-story/

The root of ‘giving a little away’ goes deeper though; it defines the culture. If your company counts every penny, every morsel and every pencil, your customers get that feeling when they interact with you. But if you make it your mission to give value in a way that matters, your customers get that, too. Of course your employees don’t need to constantly sample the soup the way your customers do, but they will appreciate value in things like free flu shots, scheduling flexibility or recognition.

It all adds up to an intangible Gestalt: by making sure that what is right and needed is what is done, by both measureable and unmeasurable means, a culture is created that is greater than the sum of its parts and will bring greater returns than the sum of its assets, even if some of those returns—customer loyalty, employee engagement, vendor devotion—are themselves intangible.