The story of Reho Travel reads like a journey through the changing of the guard of business and society over the past thirty years.

Bucket Shop – The 80’s

The name Reho Travel originated in the dark grey streets of London back in the 70’s. In those days, many of the airfares sold were one way, and for only a few pounds one could escape a drab existence and create a brand new life on the shores of ‘the lucky country’ on the other side of the world. In 1982 the brand came to Australia and helped to transform the industry with the “bucket shop” concept, where low price was the key market differentiator.

Transformation – Building Values (90’s)

With the 90’s came the emergence of the internet and a time when low cost competition started appearing on every street corner. A decision was made at Reho Travel to transform its business. It felt that a strategy which was focused purely on price was simply a race to the bottom of the pool. Words like ‘quality, flexibility and creativity’  became commonplace; substantial investments in business re-design were made; major travel industry awards were won as a result and suddenly Reho Travel was picking up a new kind of traveller – the business traveller. Within a few years its clients became a mixture of corporate and leisure travellers with a diverse range of needs.

One specialised niche that grew exponentially during those years was the group travel market – in particular the management of Study Tours for universities, schools and private corporations which was a major contributor to its gross turnover.

Maturity – Developing Brands (The 00’s)

By the turn of the century, its clientele represented by the individual business traveller had morphed into a suite of global corporations and universities and Reho was rapidly becoming recognised as a Travel Management Company. At the same time the occasional group departure had developed into a separate division specialising solely in Study Tours, in addition to the corporate and leisure brands. It was now a highly visible travel management company where phrases like ‘Duty of Care, Self Booking Tool, Compliance and Data Analysis’ were significant considerations.

Throughout this time of progressive change over the last twenty years, Reho Travel’s CEO, Karsten Horne has been the driving force behind developing the business into the highly visible award-winning and customer-focused establishment that it is today… a company that has grown from humble beginnings into a $30 million company.

With rapid technological and social change being witnessed in the second decade of the new millennium, Karsten and his people at Reho Travel have been broadening their horizons and re-thinking what it means to be a thriving business in an increasingly interdependent world. This comes in the form of a new level of sophistication regarding Reho’s place in the world as a global citizen.

The future – Making a Stand

As Reho Travel has grown and matured, its aim has been to create a work environment that attracts and retains high quality staff who are motivated to provide exceptional service and continuous innovation in a company that is highly respected within the travel industry.

But more importantly, Reho has also realised that it has a responsibility to take a stand and show leadership with its environmental and community initiatives. Everyone working at Reho Travel understands what a privilege it is for them to work for a company and in an industry that provides them with unlimited opportunities for personal travel and career development. It is essential for their own advancement that they travel widely to gain the experience and it is through seeing the world that they come to understand how lucky we all are to be living here in Australia.

Rehope – Making a Difference

Reho’s first step in taking on this more holistic perspective of global citizenship was the opening of Rehope Microcredit Agency in Malawi.

This initiative grew out of a chance meeting some years ago with a young street vendor in Malawi by Karsten Horne while he was on one of his many overseas travel experiences. Karsten was struck by the amazing spirit of hopefulness in one young man whose life seemed surrounded by despair and misfortune.  That young man was Alick, a talented student who was selling his artwork from the roadside in Malawi. At 21 he was one of the few older people you see on the streets of Malawi, with half the population under 15 and an average life expectancy of 34. Alick clearly reflected his country, full of hope, tentatively taking small steps onto the world stage but in need of support and encouragement from those with more experience and the resources to make a difference.

It was with this in mind that Reho Travel chose to support Alick. Not long after he was off the street and studying art at university. After graduating from the University of Malawi with honours, Alick moved to Lilongwe to further his career and work as a teacher at a local high school. He then embarked on a research project into the viability of establishing ‘Rehope’ as a micro-credit institution in Malawi, initially operating in Nkhata-bay.

Rehope’s aim has been to provide small affordable loans to extremely impoverished people in the country’s languishing communities for self-employment projects that will allow them to diversify their income in the hope of bettering their lives.

Since that original seed of an idea and the action taken by Alick supported directly by Karsten and his team at Reho Travel, Rehope Micro-credit Agency is now fully accredited by the Government of Malawi and authorised by the Reserve Bank of Malawi to operate as Microfinance Company. The establishment and administration of Rehope Micro-credit Agency is fully funded out of the profits of Reho Travel. The launch of Rehope Micro-credit Agency drew together senior government officers in Nkhata-Bay, the business community, civil servants, fishermen and so many other interested parties who have a keen interest in seeing this initiative take hold. Each year, two Reho Travel team members are selected to travel to Malawi and spend a week helping out in the Rehope Microcredit Agency office in Nkhata Bay and meet recipients of the loans in the district.

Reho Travel has now expanded its horizons and its reach further through its collaboration and involvement with the Empower Foundation. Empower is an Australian sustainable development organisation that works with rural communities in Malawi and Sri Lanka to action their holistic vision for a sustainable future. Empower develops and manages a network of like-minded partner organisations (both local and international) that collaborate to enable entrepreneurs to build self-reliant communities. Their approach involves a five year partnership with rural communities based on their own inclusive and holistic vision for self-reliance.

The Reho Brand

The Reho Brand is not just the logo, it’s so much more than that.  Reho Travel’s by-line, ‘Let our experience add to yours’ should be represented at every level according to Karsten. Reho’s team is experienced in many areas. They are all well travelled, have many years in the travel industry and a rich variety of life experiences, so it is no surprise that the people who work there have an emotional connection to their leader’s desire to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than themselves living on other sides of the world.

As soon as you walk in the door of the up-beat premises of Reho Travel in the heart of the business district of St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, or in the Sydney CBD, you feel a buzz. It is immediately evident, that here is a culture of people who are fully engaged and on purpose, working in an environment where their values are not just words on a wall, but behaviours in action.

A Culture of Opportunity

Not only has Reho Travel created a culture of opportunity for its staff and its thousands of loyal customers who walk through its doors every year, but also it has now embarked on creating a culture of opportunity for fellow travellers on life’s journey through its direct engagement at a global level within the communities of developing countries.

In the words of Karsten, “Our journey to make a difference does not end with the setting up of the Rehope Micro-credit Agency in Malawi. It is just the beginning. Who knows where the next ten years and beyond will lead us?

But one thing is for sure as we develop our brand offering further, we would like to think that we can find more partners and collaborators from within the ranks of our suppliers and clients and their respective companies who share our beliefs and support initiatives like these to make a difference in very tangible ways.

Maybe the only way forward for our planet and its people will be for commercial enterprises of the future to be driven by purpose-driven profit, where the shareholders of a company are not the only beneficiaries of its market success.”

In our opinion, the story of Reho Travel and its development from being a price driven commodity business; through years of full service offering; and then on to comprehensive travel management and finally now to the realisation of its wider responsibility as a global corporate citizen, is a journey that has been and will be repeated many, many times over by similar businesses as they now undergo a transformation into new levels of engagement with the world and its people. This encompasses a far more inclusive world-view where the term ‘stakeholder’ doesn’t just end with those who are in direct relationship with an organisation but draws its inspiration from the wider community at large both at the local and global level.

Drop me an email at brian@precisionprofiling.com.au if you would like to discuss further how to join our September study tour and create the environment that attracts and retains the young leaders of the future for your organisation.

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your team.

“It seems today that everything we have known and understood is being challenged on the basis of globalisation.” Such were the words of the then managing director of Bendigo Bank, Mr Rob Hunt, when he wrote about communities of the future back in 2004. He went on to say, that the best way to build sustainable communities of the future was from within, by involving, uniting and engaging local people in regional and rural Australia in community building programs.

In making these comments, Mr Hunt shared the fact that his organisation had identified some years earlier that one of the difficulties for many regional and rural communities was that they controlled very little of the capital they produced locally, in part due to the ever-increasing centralised banking and financial systems that were impacting on their lives.

With the rapid onset of technology and bank rationalisations in the 1990s, local communities throughout regional and rural Australia were dying out as their local bank branches closed their doors, and local commerce dried up as a result. If people were forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to do their banking in larger neighbouring commercial hubs invariably they spent their money in those hubs as well, ultimately draining their local community of its financial lifeblood.

Out of the ashes of these rural disasters in the making, rose the community bank model. June 1998 saw the inaugural opening of the first ever Bendigo Community Bank®, in the form of the joint Minyip and Rupanyap branches, two tiny towns in north  western Victoria with a combined population of 1100. Since that first foray into rewriting the concept of community and banking, the retail arm of the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Group (the result of a recent merger in 2007) now boasts 296 locally-owned community bank branches to add to its 190 company-owned branches, 90 agencies and 1900 ATMs represented across all states and territories throughout Australia serving more than 1.4 million customers via its national retail network.

The Bendigo Bank as it was known back in the late 90s put its money and considerable resources where its mouth was and as a result created a model of banking that is arguably unique in the world and earned it the enviable reputation over the past decade as one of Australia’s most consistently recognised top ten brands in terms of community engagement, financial service provision and corporate social responsibility.

Bendigo Community Bank® branches provide communities with more than just quality banking services. They deliver employment opportunities for local people, keep local capital in the community, are a local investment option for shareholders and provide a source of revenue for important community projects determined by the local community.

Each community bank branch is a locally owned and operated company, which functions as a franchise of Bendigo and Adelaide Bank. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank provides the coverage of its banking licence, a full range of banking products, training of staff and ongoing support.

Part of the bank’s philosophy stems from its belief that it is the role of the bank to ‘feed into prosperity, not off it.’ Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is often lauded for its social responsibility because of its work with communities – almost as if it has tacked a social conscience on to its business strategy. But working for the benefit of its customers and their communities is central to its business strategy. To the bank it makes sense – ‘You cannot run a successful business in an unsuccessful community.’ Therefore, if it can help communities to prosper, then it will have strengthened its markets. And if Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is an essential part of the community fabric, then it is more likely to be supported and to build a sustainable business.

As the bank says on its web site, ‘In the late 1990s, few people thought local communities could influence banks. Now they are running successful branches that are contributing many hundreds of thousands of dollars into building better communities.’ 

Central also to its core business is the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s aim to be Australia’s leading customer-connected banking group. The bank’s driving motivation is to help its customers and partners succeed and its communities and districts to flourish, thereby ensuring its business and its sustainability. Social responsibility is therefore not an after-thought that comes after business success, it is part of the DNA that drives its success, because as the bank knows successful communities are great places in which to run a successful business.

Increasingly the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is finding other ways to help, too. It feels that if community based enterprise can be set up for banking, then it can be accomplished in other areas as well, and as such it is developing ways to encourage local people to commit to buying their services through a company committed to retaining at least some of its earnings in their community, to the mutual benefit of both the bank and the communities it supports.

Some examples of these joint bank and community initiatives are the locally owned Community Telcos for telephony services; the Lead On Australia youth project underwritten by the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank which is helping communities to engage better with their local youth; the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s charitable arm, Community Enterprise Foundation which creates a pool of money that is put towards working to build stronger Australian communities through funding programs for families, youth, health, education, the environment, the arts and more; and projects to address environmental sustainability.

For example, since Lead On Australia was established in 1999, more than 8,500 young people have participated in more than 1250 business and community based projects. These projects have been supported by partners from the business, community and government sectors.

Not only is the bank the instigator and driver of these community-based initiatives, it actively supports and encourages the engagement of its staff at both the head office and local level community levels to make a difference and contribute to the communities in which it and they operate.

Environmental sustainability is another area that is strongly promoted by the bank, primarily through its Generation Green™ partnerships. The bank links sustainability to customers through its Green home and personal loans encouraging energy efficient homes; its Carbon Offset program; its business packages for sustainable water; and its community initiatives supporting the development of bio-diesel projects.

Once again, the bank not only promotes environmental sustainability through its many Green related programs, it has led the way by being the first organisation in Australia to build a five-star Green energy-rated office building in a regional city, one of the first office buildings of its kind in Australia, and the only Australian bank with headquarters located outside a capital city.

The Bendigo Centre, was officially opened in Bendigo, Victoria by then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in December 2008.

Key features of the $100 million, six-storey complex include:

•    Half the energy usage of a typical office building of its size.
•    A fifty per cent reduction in the use of potable water.
•    A water treatment plant that recycles 20,000 litres of waste water per day.
•    Recycled water to service all toilets throughout the building, saving almost 4.5 million litres of drinking water each year.
•    One of the first large-scale applications of under-floor displacement air conditioning in Australia. Using considerably less energy, this system provides fresh, clean air at a low pressure with individually controlled vents at work stations.
•    Solar panels to reduce the amount of black power used. Automated lights that dim or turn off with natural light levels.
•    A range of family-friendly facilities which include a mothers and babies room and an after-school room for children where they can use computers to complete homework or watch television.

Needless to say, the work environment is a joy for staff to be a part of with its vast expanse of natural light filled open spaces and chill-out areas built around the soaring central atrium. The interior is a revelation of modern design, comfortable and user friendly with working spaces bathed in natural light.

Currently the branch network is also undergoing remodeling focused on providing enhanced staff-customer engagement in an open and friendly service environment supported by the alternative choice of technology-driven service and automated customer coin counting facilities.

The Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s drive to make community banking a viable alternative in the financial services landscape has restored faith in 296 regional, rural and local communities across Australia as a whole. As the recently retired CEO Rob Hunt says, “Community is important, and we all want to belong, contribute and see improved prospects for ourselves and our children. We have the necessary ingredients and ability to build strong, modern and creative communities of the future – a future only limited by our imaginations.”

What are your thoughts on this wonderful community banking story? I’d love to hear them.

Drop me an email to brian@precisionprofiling.com.au if you would like to discuss further how to create the environment that attracts and retains the socially conscious leaders of the future for your organisation.

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Welcome to a smarter, more socially and environmentally sustainable model for doing business today. It’s such a wonderful surprise to find a large, publicly listed company with more than 74,000 staff, in the highly competitive grocery industry boldly stand and say ‘noble cause before profits’.  This company even made the statement, ‘It’s not about share of wallet anymore, it’s about share of heart’ and the leaders of this company are happy to put both on the table, placing their trust in others by offering them a share in the profits as well as recognition for the difference they make in the world.

John Mackey, founder and CEO of Wholefoods Market is a force to be reckoned with.  He is fighting an American business war with loving kindness and generosity of spirit by putting people above profits and starting a global movement called ‘Conscious Capitalism’ and he is encouraging others to follow his example.

There are some out there who are hard-core believers that profit above all else is the only way to survive and that  Conscious Capitalism is a ‘Pollyanna’ point of view and not even possible for publicly listed companies to behave in such a way. But when companies like Walmart start looking over the fence at what is happening (and changing some of their own strategies to follow suit) there must be something in it beyond just being a nice thing to do.

There must be some pretty sound business principles and structures in place. So let’s look at why this is not just a great, ethically and socially responsible idea but why John Mackey, Wholefoods Market and Conscious Capitalism (which includes globally recognised brands such as South West Airlines, Google, IDEO and Timberland to name just a handful) are living proof that this is not just a rose coloured view of the world but a smart way to get ahead in business. It also supports Peter Drucker’s theory that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Strategy is still important but no matter how brilliant a company’s strategy might be, the strategy’s execution depends on great performance by the people inside the organization.

Let’s first compare the financials of businesses who operate under the banner of Conscious Capitalism to those who operate on more traditional models (a lot of these same companies were also studied and featured in the book, ‘Firms of Endearment’).

Investment Performance of Businesses Operating under the Conscious Capitalism model vs the S&P500

Ave S&P 500 Co.      – 3 Years   – Annualised  3.3%;    Cumulative  10.3%
Conscious Cap. Co. – 3 Years   – Annualised  21.1%;   Cumulative  77.4%

Ave S&P 500 Co.      – 10 Years  – Annualised  2.7%;     Cumulative  30.7%
Conscious Cap. Co. - 10 Years – Annualised  13.5%;  Cumulative  254.4%

Ave S&P 500 Co.      -  15 Years – Annualised   6.5%;    Cumulative  157.0%
Conscious Cap. Co. -  15 Years – Annualised  21.0%;  Cumulative 1,646.1%

There are four specific tenets of the Conscious Capitalism Model. 

Tenet Number One:  A Higher Purpose and Core Values.

A ‘noble cause’ is at the core of everything they do and the way they operate.  For Wholefoods Market it is to educate people and provide easy access to healthy eating to improve the world’s health. The people at Wholefoods Market live and breathe this noble cause – from conducting free nutritional seminars within their stores for their customers; educating their staff and giving them additional discounts on healthier foods; providing their own staff healthcare program; to a huge fund to help developing nations feed themselves by providing the materials for farming and sending their staff over each year to assist, plus many more projects of equal merit.

Tenet Number Two:  Stakeholder Integration.

They actively align the interests of all stakeholder groups, not just balance them against one another. They have carefully devised a business model where the objectives of each stakeholder can be met simultaneously and are strengthened by other stakeholders.

The key is that the activities within the business are executed within a system that allow for the active alignment not competition of stakeholder interests. Wholefoods Market captures this idea in its formal “Declaration of Interdependence,” which acknowledges the idea that all stakeholder groups constitute a family whose members depend on one another.

Tenet Number Three:  Conscious Leadership.

Leaders operating within this framework are required to display the characteristics we admire most in exemplary human beings such as emotional intelligence; spiritual intelligence (ability to access our deepest meanings, values and purposes); servant leadership; capacity for love and care; and systems intelligence. Such leaders are required to continually evolve, learn and grow in these areas.  John Mackey himself said that his own personal growth in these areas was necessary in order for his company to evolve and be of benefit to the lives it touched.

Tenet Number Four:  Conscious Culture and Management.

This revolves around the decentralisation of information to gain more widely dispersed collective intelligence and collaboration. People within a business operating inside of this model have a high degree of accountability and a shared fate… the better the company does… the better the customers do… the better the team members do… the better the shareholder investors do.

At a lot of companies, team members develop an entitlement mentality. They want to benefit from the boom times but want to be shielded from the tough times.  This is not the case at conscious companies.  All of the people within the company are required to put forward their ideas on getting through the tougher times and looking at all angles of what’s possible. This not only brings with it a lot of innovative thinking but brings solutions that can defy normal thinking. Structures and strategies to help innovation are seen everywhere within a conscious business.

Innovation, collaboration and self-management are important factors and tend to go hand-in-hand with the decentralisation of information and the empowerment of all.

According to Mackey, there are seven characteristics of a conscious business which can be summed up with the acronym… T.A.C.T.I.L.E.

Trust:  Conscious businesses have a high level of internal and external trust, both vertically (between leadership and frontline team members) and horizontally (within the leadership team as well as across teams at all levels).  Externally there’s a high degree of trust between the company and its customers; suppliers; other business partners; and the communities within which they operate.

Accountability:  Combined with those high levels of trust and caring is a strong emphasis on accountability. Team members are accountable to each other and to their customers.  People stick to their commitments and hold each other responsible for performance, efficiency and deliverables.  Suppliers are accountable to the company and vice versa.

Caring:  The human need to care and be cared for is extremely powerful, often equal to and exceeding the need to pursue self interest.  Conscious cultures are marked by their genuine heartfelt love and care for all stakeholders.  Caring begets caring and the company’s stakeholders in turn exhibit genuine caring towards the company.  People in conscious cultures behave in ways that are thoughtful, authentic, considerate and compassionate.

Transparency:  There are few secrets in a conscious culture because there is little to hide.  Financial books are usually open; salary information is more readily available and strategic plans are widely disseminated and discussed.  The reality is that we live in an increasingly transparent world in which most information of genuine significance becomes known anyway.  Conscious firms embrace this reality and benefit from it.

Integrity:  A conscious culture is marked by strict adherence to truth telling and fair dealing.  Conscious firms readily forgive lapses in judgement, but do not tolerate lapses in integrity.  Conscious firms are guided by what they believe is ethically right, not merely by what is legally required or socially acceptable.

Loyalty:  Conscious businesses exist in a system of high loyalty. All stakeholders are loyal to each other and to the company.  This is a natural consequence of the relationship mindset that permeates such businesses. It means that these businesses don’t have a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ attitude.  Stakeholders are more patient and understanding of each other when short term blips occur.

Egalitarianism:  Conscious businesses do not have a class system that separates their leaders from the team members at large.  Everyone is treated with the same respect and dignity. The salary differential between the top echelon and the front lines is smaller than typically found at traditional companies.  Senior executives generally do not enjoy special privileges and perks not available to others.  To a large extent all team members have input into how the company is managed and led.

Precision Profiling in collaboration with Leaders of Distinction, has created a one week ‘hands on’ study tour at the coalface of some of Australia’s leading exponents of these philosophies where Return on Investment and the total belief and support of a noble cause are jointly enshrined as integral to the  long term success of the  business.

The tour’s theme is “R.O.I + I.” (Return On Investment and Integrity), and it will include on-site case studies where we engage with and learn directly from those leading the way in this new paradigm of business and corporate responsibility, where making money and making a difference hold equal sway.

As Sir Richard Branson, arguably the most successful and internationally recognised entrepreneurs of our time and founder of the global Virgin mega-brand, puts it in his most recent book,  ‘Screw Business as Usual,’….  “There’s a massive generational shift occurring that will blur the distinction between doing good and doing business…  In our newly interconnected world, no one can any longer ignore the issues we are facing… I believe that business can be a force for good… because never has there been a more exciting time for all of us to explore this next great frontier where the boundaries between work and higher purpose are merging into one and where doing good really is good for business.”

For expressions of interest and background information on the make-up of the tour, its leaders, and the organisations we will be showcasing and visiting, send your requests for further information directly to brian@precisionprofiling.com.au

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your team.

When you think of some of the world’s most admired brands, there have been precious few who have lasted the distance remaining consistently near the top of all the “best” lists for the whole of their corporate life since inception. We have witnessed many burst on to the scene from nowhere only to disappear from view within a decade or so. And quite a few have remained in the public eye as product/service innovators one year; top financial performers another; employers of choice at other times; and maybe even good corporate citizens on other occasions.

But to be recognised as consistently high achievers in the triple bottom line of Financial, Social and Environmental performance takes a special kind of company with a special kind of culture and ‘servant leadership’ who understand the true meaning of ‘stewardship’ and all that it represents. In my opinion there is one company in the USA that has remained the stand-out performer for almost all of its 42 years in an industry littered with failures, and it continues to outperform on its “R.O. Double I” to this day. And no, it is neither a hi-tech nor an IT based company. It plies its trade in a brown fields industry that has been around for decades.

If I told you that this company has managed to maintain a special place in the heart of its millions of customers and the community at large every year with a workforce that numbers over 40,000 then its achievements become even more amazing given that this gives it 40,000 opportunities every hour of every day to ‘get things wrong.’ Invariably it gets it right 99% of the time.

This company continues to gather awards and accolades in all of the triple bottom line measurements that matter most year-in, year-out with a consistency of performance that is unsurpassed. I am talking about one of the World’s Most Admired Companies according to Fortune Magazine’s annual survey of corporate reputations (on the ‘Most Admired’ list every year since 1994 and all but twice in the ‘Most Admired’ Top 10); which is consistently awarded as ‘One of the Best Places to Work;’ ‘One of the Most Respected Corporations in the Community;’ a consistent ‘Green Leader’ on sustainability measures; a Positively Outrageous Service provider (that title is a clue); and a record holder for the longest running profitability streak in its industry with an unprecedented 40 consecutive years of profits and sustained operational excellence. It therefore comes as no surprise to learn that when Forbes completed its exhaustive market research in 2012 of the USA’s most desired brand, according to both men and women, this brand won the coveted #1 position.

The amazing brand that I speak of is none other than SWA – Southwest Airlines.

The low-cost (not ‘cheap and nasty’) airline universally recognised and feted for a plethora of “bests” across the whole gamut of Key Performance Indicators:–

• Best on-time performance
• Best baggage handling
• Fewest flight cancellations
• Fastest gate turn-around
• Lowest employee turnover rates in its industry
• Fewest industry customer complaints/highest ratings
• Over 60% market dominance in every city-city route it enters
• One of USA’s safest airlines and newest fleets
• Stock value consistently rising decade after decade
• Most worker/shareholder millionaires
• Growth of 20-30% pa in an airline industry littered with failures
• Standard and Poors rating that is one of the best in its industry
• Innovations in operational procedures, initial web design and on-line ticketing that turned the industry on its head.

And over those forty years of unabated profits it has all been achieved without the need to resort to lay-offs or pay cuts. That is a remarkable feat unmatched in US aviation history.

So how does Southwest Airlines do it? What makes its business model and its brand recognition and reverence so successful one might ask?

The most obvious answer is often found with the spiritual head of an organisation – the CEO. And Southwest Airlines had both a CEO and a 2-ic who almost reached mythical status during their time at the top over 35 of those 42 years. The co-founder, one time lawyer Herb Kelleher (President) and his 2-ic, one time legal secretary Colleen Barrett (Director of Culture) have created a culture built around fun and love (NYSE moniker – LUV) by never taking themselves seriously, hiring people with a sense of humour, and espousing a theory of delivering Positively Outrageous Service whilst achieving it all at the lowest possible operating costs, in the fledgling years out of necessity and ultimately as an industry game-changer. You can’t do that unless you engage your people and all of their diversity at a level of productivity and service where they are the difference that makes the difference in a ‘no- frills, low-fare, high-frequency’ airline with their good-natured attitude and ‘can do’ work ethic. To top it off, Southwest Airlines has always been a fully unionised workforce, so there are no corners cut through contracted or underpaid labour. I had the undoubted pleasure of witnessing this culture first hand over a period of seven years in the mid 90s when I led my world best practice study tours to the USA and Europe.

The Southwest operation and its head office at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, was always a favourite destination of mine because walking into their head office and touring their group departments for the day was like walking into a combination of an evangelical revival meeting and a Disney theme park all rolled into one, especially if one visited during Halloween.

The joy, the fun and the sense of camaraderie was palpable every single time. It literally jumped out at you off the walls of the place and was replicated in every personal story, every piece of written material, and every wall covered in photos and plaques and newspaper clippings and wacky stories everywhere you looked. This was not a contrived scene, it was organic. I know because I and my tour guests experienced it consistently year after year and I still have the photos and videos to prove it. What’s more, we never witnessed anything quite like it in any other best practice company elsewhere in the world in all of the fifteen tours I led over that seven year period, and certainly not in a ‘corporate’ environment with over 30,000 staff at that time. And remember – it was consistently profitable and consistently outperforming its competition in all of the industry benchmarks that mattered.

I once mused on one of my many visits back then whether this amazing environment would remain so special once its much loved co-founder Herb Kelleher and his ‘keeper of the culture,’ Colleen Barrett, finally retired and exited the scene. I was assured by anyone at SWA whom I happened to ask that there was ‘never any chance of the culture of love, fun, self sacrifice and passion abating,’ and they were right. Both Herb and Colleen have been gone from the scene for over six years now, and by all available measures the culture and the achievements – financial, social and societal – continue to this day. I believe this is because between Herb and Colleen, and their many thousands of colleagues, they not only led by example from the front, but they crafted a corporate architecture that focused on the highest aspirations of love; fun; service; humility and self deprecating humour that left no room for arrogance or false pride in its make-up. And they selected, hired, and trained accordingly.

From my observations, way back in the late 80s and early 90s, Southwest Airlines was the only company which could boast a company director at the highest level of seniority who was responsible as chief custodian of ‘culture.’ Ms Barrett headed up the committee whose sole focus was to ‘spread, keep and enrich the company culture and family spirit.’ I wonder if even today there are that many public corporations as significant as SWA who venerate and resource culture as a specific focus separate to their HR department or things of that ilk? As Colleen Barrett said herself back then, “Basically we hire attitudes. People don’t think of working for this company as a mere job. It’s a cause.” They actively seek out fun loving people who think outside the box in an industry where strict governance and uncompromising rules of safety must apply, and yet this does not detract from their enviable record of efficiency, safety and productivity, it enhances it.

In the words of Gary Kelly, the current Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, “With a Warrior Spirit, a Servant’s Heart, and Fun-LUVing Attitude, our nearly 46,000 employees create the unique Southwest culture that continues to maintain the excellence we have built up over four decades with our brand (in the form of Customer Service, Operational Excellence, Community Engagement and Consecutive Annual Profits)… We are committed to our purpose – to connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable and low-cost air travel. It is that purpose that will guide us forward in pursuit of our vision to become The World’s Most Loved, Most Flown, and Most Profitable Airline.”

Southwest bonds its employees to one another by shared values that include such traditional virtues as integrity, trust and altruism. For the worker ‘evangelists’ at SWA, it isn’t just a job it’s a crusade. And if the key to a highly successful brand is the level of trust that it engenders in the community then Southwest Airlines has turned trust into an organisational art-form through consistently Aligning the Attitudes; Being the Behaviours and Managing the Message.

What are the three elements that drive that intrinsic brand trust? I believe that it can best be described as:-

•    Trust in one’s Competence (organisationally this may be represented by operating efficiency and safety)
•    Trust in one’s Commitment (organisationally this may be represented by service, pricing, and customer experience)
•    Trust in one’s Character (organisationally this may be represented by community engagement and support)

Southwest Airlines doesn’t just strive to achieve outstanding results in the triple bottom line of Financial, Social and Environmental performance. Nor does it lay claim to winning various awards in these areas while it hides anything less than optimal from its public. It actively and transparently engages in measuring its results in these three areas each financial year in the form of its ‘Southwest Airlines One Report’ which lists all of the good, bad and the ugly KPIs under the triple headings of:– Performance (financial and operational); People (cultural and social); and Planet (environmental and societal).

R.O. ‘Double’ I

In the work that I have been doing in this area of R.O.I.+I. (Return on Investment and Integrity) or ‘conscious capitalism’ as it has also been termed, I have begun to notice that companies are finally beginning to have quite a unique approach to key areas of business that until this millennium, were almost non-existent. (The old paradigms of R.O.I.; growth for growth sake; command and control; headcount on a balance sheet; and a focus on ‘giving back’ only after the shareholder returns and executive bonuses have been fully accounted for, and where corporate citizenship fell under the banner of public affairs/PR, are still widely in evidence as the main order of the day, but thankfully this is slowly changing.)

In no particular order, these changes in thinking with a differentiated approach fall under the general headings of:- Innovation; Engagement; Environment; Servant Leadership; Culture and Mythology, and are built around a Noble Cause as the new sustainable model of business (Financial and Operational best practices assumed). What I have been discovering is that companies that are changing our world and the way we do business, are coming from a much larger paradigm of heart-centeredness interwoven into the hard edged fabric of sustainable financial results. Such things go hand in hand. They are no longer mutually exclusive. Many (but not all) of these leaders are coming out of the ranks of business entrepreneurs who have only entered the workforce since 2000. They are a new breed of leader and they want to make a difference to all lives, not just their own. What’s more, they have the technological means and the social media street smarts to do so.

Logos, Pathos and Ethos

If we go right back to the time of the Greek philosopher Aristotle we will see evidence of this thinking as the source of influence, in the form of Logos (Intellect); Pathos (Emotion) and Ethos (Character). For too many years now we have witnessed only the Logos or rational approach to business sustainability. During the 90s, we began to see evidence of the Pathos or emotional appeal becoming part of the fabric of business in the form of customer service, employee engagement and cultural values as a focus. But now I believe that with the turn of the millennium we are beginning to witness the third critical element come to the fore in the form of Ethos or ethical behaviour in its broadest sense as an integral part of the new business model.

Back in the 90s, Southwest Airlines was one of the pioneering few profit-generating organisations that was doing the unthinkable…bringing ‘fun and love’ into the boardroom.

Some people view this idea of ‘conscious capitalism’ (or R.O.I.+I. as I call it) as idealistic and impractical. In their view the business world is a tough and brutal ‘dog-eat-dog’ world. To them, this is just a pipe dream – wishful thinking for the woolly headed idealists. In fact this way of doing business not only creates wellbeing for all stakeholders but it also creates sustained high performance. Traditional businesses that compete against an authentic socially conscious business soon discover just how strong, resolute and resilient these enterprises can be.  Just ask any executive of some of the now bankrupt or defunct airlines in the USA who marched to the beat of the older drums, what it was like to compete against Southwest Airlines in its own backyard for the last 40 years.

I will end this longer-than-usual article with the words of Herb Kelleher in his ‘Message to the Field’ back in the 90s in one of his famous addresses to his Southwest employees:–

“When you’re sitting around with your grandchildren, I want you to be able to tell them that being connected to Southwest Airlines was one of the finest things that ever happened to you in your entire life.

I want you to be able to say, ‘Southwest Airlines ennobled and enriched my life; it made me better, and bigger and stronger than I ever could have been alone.’

And if, indeed, that happens with your grandchildren, then that will be the greatest contribution that I could have made to Southwest Airlines and to its future.”

What are your thoughts on ‘R.O.I.+I.’ and the amazing SWA story? I’d love to hear them.

Drop me an email to brian@precisionprofiling.com.au if you would like to discuss further how to create the environment that attracts and retains the young leaders of the future for your organisation.

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your team.

Atlassian is an Australian software company that lives, works and plays by its noble cause and values. The people at Atlassian exist not only to provide quality software to corporate Australia and the rest of the world but also to help companies share information, be more collaborative and help people all over the world to live better, more purposeful lives with deeper and richer relationships. They are certainly on track to doing just that.

I would like to thank my colleague Anita Kropacsy of Leaders of Distinction who shared this wonderful story with me about Atlassian, a young and vibrant company that deserves highlighting for all of the right reasons. Together, in our work, Anita and I seek to showcase forward thinking organisations that add a huge dose of social awareness and action as a key part of their business model. We call it R.O.I. + I. (Return on Investment and Integrity). Not only are they great employers and successful businesses, but also their social consciousness is front and centre of their strategy, not an ‘add on.’ They and many other youthful companies like them are the new breed of business leaders of this new millennium who bring with them a wider global view than just the fortunes of their own company. Here’s their story.

Since 2010 Atlassian has donated more than $2.5 million to help women in developing countries to gain access to education through donating 100% of all income from a software tool that supports start-up businesses and not-for-profits (which they give licences to use the software for a mere $10). Talk about a win-win-win-win.  They have been heard to say that they try to aim for a ‘win’ to the power of six!

They have one of the most innovative teams around, and that doesn’t happen by accident.  Everything in their business exudes absolute transparency. Regardless of whether it is practical or impractical, all information both internal and external is made public.  They are not afraid of being honest with themselves; with their staff; with their customers and with the community at large.

It’s not just the transparency that helps to create an atmosphere of innovation and productivity though – they have structures and systems and they invest heavily into believing in their team’s ability to be creative.

Every quarter they have what they call ‘Shipit’ days, where everyone in the company is invited to come up with an idea and work on whatever they want to work on as long as it fits within Atlassian’s business scope. They back this up even further and offer the staff 20% time where anyone who wins backing from the team from their ‘Shipit’ presentation can spend 20% of their work week (and pick whomever they want on their team) to turn their idea into reality.  This has also helped them to develop some fantastic project management and collaboration software.  They have also just run their first ‘Shipit’ day for their customers who might have some great ideas on how to improve their products and services.  That’s smart!

Atlassian builds its business with heart and with balance.  While the company works incredibly hard at producing outstanding software that improves the lives of the people using it (making their life easier and less stressful/more free and transparent), each person within the 600 strong team situated over three continents volunteers five days per year to their favourite charity, supported by Atlassian. The company also runs programmes such as ‘matching donation month’ where it matches the donations that staff put into their charities out of their own pockets. Atlassian is always looking for ways that it can give back to the wider community in which it operates.

The leaders support their stakeholders in any way that they can – including engaging them in major company decisions; putting their large orders in to their suppliers where ever possible in the suppliers quiet periods; generally considering absolutely anyone whose life could be impacted in any way by their company with absolute compassion; and with everyone’s best interest at heart.

It’s not all just hard (yet fun and engaging) work at Atlassian either.  They have computer games, music, pool tables, Wii carts… they are even supplied with tricycles with which to ride around the office, fully equipped with a stubby cooler on the front and a basket on the back ready for 4pm Friday drinks.

The architecture at the Atlassian building hasn’t happened by accident either.  It is light, bright, spacious… all of the things that have been scientifically proven to enhance creative activity in the brain.  They are on to everything here.

Atlassian is one of the fastest growing companies in Australia and has been acknowledged as being amongst the top ten best employers in Australia for the last three years running. Its founders are recognised by the BRW young rich list as being the two wealthiest individuals in Australia under the age of 40. In a recent interview, they were asked what is it that makes their company so successful. Their answer was that they have meaningful core values, they work hard to get the right people on board and they implement world best practices and business systems that support their core values and innovation (and they have also happen to have attracted the attention of industry greats such as Gary Hamel and Dan Pink).

Atlassian are a key driver in a new business concept called ‘Conscious Capitalism.’ Chances are we are going to hear a whole lot more about this in our world over the next few years, as more and more business leaders discover that there are more fulfilling ways to achieve business success where profitability, sustainability and ‘making a difference’ go hand in hand.

What are your thoughts on ‘Conscious Capitalism’? I’d love to read them.

Drop me an email to brian@precisionprofiling.com.au if you would like to discuss further how to create the environment that attracts and retains the young leaders of the future for your organisation.

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your team.

Two young fish were swimming in one direction when they happened to meet an older fish heading the other way. The older fish nods at them and says… “Morning boys. How’s the water?” The younger fish swim on for a bit and eventually one of them turns to the other and says… “What the hell is water?”  Even though this story told by award-winning novelist David Foster Wallace is all about ‘missing the obvious’ it also a salutary lesson about context and how it defines meaning. Fish are defined by their water environment. Without it they wouldn’t exist, but as the story goes, it is so pervasive in their lives that they remain blissfully unaware of it even though they exist only because of it. And so it is with people. We are who we are because of the context in which we find ourselves, and that can have a huge impact on the type of profiling assessments organisations use in recruitment, and why I believe it is wise to steer clear of ‘personality profiles.’

Based on my research, I believe it is wrong to assume that ‘personality profiling’ is an accurate indicator of performance. You may not have heard of the ‘Broken Windows’ theory, but it is an excellent example of how context defines meaning and motivation, and how its application during the 90s dramatically arrested the crime epidemic in New York City. Broken Windows was the brainchild of criminologists James Wilson and George Kelling. They both argued that the crime epidemic was the inevitable result of environmental disorder. For example, if a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by it every day in that community will conclude that no one cares and that therefore no one is in charge. Soon more windows will be broken sending a signal that anything goes leading to other ‘minor’ crimes such as aggressive begging, graffiti proliferation, minor misdemeanours and so on until there is a major breakdown in law and order. This theory says that crime is contagious and it starts with a broken window and spreads to an entire community.

In the early nineties when William Bratton, a disciple of the Broken Windows theory, was first appointed as the Transit Police Chief and charged with the responsibility of cleaning up the crime epidemic on the New York subways, he focused first on cleaning up the graffiti and the estimated 170,000 daily fare evaders rather than the more serious issues of violence confronting the subway system. Arrests for misdemeanours for the kind of minor offenses that went unnoticed in the past, went up fivefold between 1990 and 1994, and as a result the Transit Police began to turn around the experience of citizens being safe on the subway.

After the election of Mayor Giuliani in 1994, Bratton was appointed head of the NYPD and he applied the same strategies to the city at large. He instructed his officers to crack down on the minor ‘quality of life’ crimes that bedevilled the city such as public drunkenness; public urination; littering; graffiti vandalism; aggressive window washing at intersections etc. and before long, crime in the city fell as quickly and as dramatically as it had on the subways. Even though Bratton and his likeminded peers were originally told to focus on the things that really mattered such as violent crimes and murders, they had the courage of their convictions and eventually their approach laid the foundation of the vibrant and relatively safe city that Manhattan is today.

I know this from first-hand experience because during the mid 90s when I was leading my World Best Practice Study Tours, our weekends in the USA were often spent in New York, and on many occasions I walked the streets of Manhattan after midnight feeling totally at ease and safe, plus I also took a few very late night rides on the subway and never felt intimidated by the experience. I can’t say that I would feel as safe walking around the streets of my own city, Melbourne after 10 pm on a Saturday night as I would in New York.

I was so impressed by my personal experience that on subsequent study tours I led my groups of Australian executives to other police departments which had applied their own version of the NYPD strategy. In particular we undertook visits to the inner sanctum of the Chicago Police Department to study their Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy universally known as CAPS which has been recognized as one of the most ambitious and successful community policing initiatives in the USA.

So what is the point of these examples that I am sharing with you here? Well this week we have finally heard the details of the allegation that one of our most respected AFL football clubs had been running a programme of systematic testing of supplements on their team of elite footballers over the previous couple of years. An internal investigation by the club itself resulted in findings that were damning of the club’s governance in allowing a “pharmacologically experimental” environment (their words) to occur within its organisation.

This regimen included weekly injections of multiple substances off-site from the football club without proper medical oversight from the club’s medical staff, all in the name of cutting edge ‘sports science.’ To compound the issue, the poor quality of record keeping and lack of proper protocol was such that it has been difficult for the authorities investigating the matter over the past six months to determine precisely what was given to whom over the period of time in question. The club leadership has since acknowledged officially that, “…(there were) mistakes in terms of governance and people management, and we apologise for them.” I definitely do not intend to comment any further on the pros and cons of what went on at that football club because I am sure that it has been well and truly ‘sliced and diced’ from every possible angle in the media this past six months since the story first broke. What has brought the whole sorry saga to a head, I believe, is the anonymous talk-back call from a concerned mother of one of the younger players involved, wrought with distress over the possible long term side-effects on the future health and well being of her son. After hearing her sobbing call on the radio late last week, I am sure no caring parent could avoid being moved by the genuine fear that these young men may be facing in the future with regard to their physical and emotional health, and the issue of workplace health and safety and informed consent that seemed to have been missed in the rush to gain a competitive edge on the field.

This brings me to the point of my blog – the amazing power that ‘context’ or environment holds over one’s individual motivation and how it could be that professional athletes at the peak of their careers would allow themselves to be experimented upon, week in week out, in clinics and locations away from the open and transparent environment of their football club. These are highly motivated young men spanning in age between late teens up to late twenties and early thirties and while some of them may be young and naive and at the beginning of their careers, others would have been around the professional football environment long enough and of a mature enough age to question in more detail what they were being subjected to. The reason why such highly professional athletes with highly tuned levels of motivation and self preservation would be prepared to subject themselves to being uninformed ‘guinea pigs’ in a climate of experimentation without due consideration given to their own health and safety tells a lot about the power of environment on individual motivation. i.e. “If all of my peers and fellow team mates are agreeing to this regime of weekly supplement injections, and if our coach whom we revere and  cohorts of his are leading the way in this experimentation to give us the edge on the football field then it must be okay for me. Besides – who am I to buck the team ethos of doing ‘Whatever it Takes’ to win the ultimate team prize – AFL Championship glory at the end of the season?”

If you or I were to be faced with the same decision to be injected with unknown (and in some cases unproven and highly experimental) substances on a weekly basis in order to improve our performance at work, I know what the answer would be. A big, fat, “You’ve got to be kidding me -  NO,”  I expect. And if we were pressed on the issue we would probably go running to the authorities screaming about the employer’s right to play ‘Big Brother’ and put us into this situation. In the cold hard light of day, I imagine that not one of those professional footballers would agree to such a preposterous idea, if indeed they were faced with the same request to give uninformed consent to their employer to experiment on them as an isolated individual. I assume that their motivation for self preservation would take precedence over their motivation to win at all costs.

This is the key to motivation in the workplace and why the profiling that I do focuses on motivation within the context of a given role and environment and not on the reliance that some organisations have on ‘personality profiles’ because that type of testing just doesn’t have validity. To assume that anyone would have the same motivation or behavioural style within all contexts is a fallacy. Current research says otherwise, and so does common sense in my opinion. Next time, as an employer, if you hear yourself saying, ‘why can’t we find motivated staff?’ or your recruitment people write those employment ads that ask for ‘motivated, self starters,’ you need to take a dose of the reality pill and ask yourself this question… “Motivated to do what and under what context?”

There is so much more I could write about this topic of motivation in the workplace, and certainly today our more enlightened leaders are learning the lessons about creating the right environment for people within their midst to flourish, rather than succumbing to the illusion that it is their job to lead from the front of the parade as if being a champion is all that it takes for others to follow. A colleague of mine, Anita Kropacsy, has been researching this topic of ‘Strength-Based Leadership’ where the creation of a values-driven environment that encourages creative people to channel their motivation towards doing meaningful work is the key to the sustainability of our companies of the future, and I must say, her discoveries on the essence of modern day leadership in this rapidly changing world  dovetails exactly with the work I have been doing on how to uncover and assess individual motivation in the workplace.

If all it takes is a heroic ‘champion’ leader leading from the front, then I would remind you of the saga currently facing the football club that I am referring to in this article. This is because the coach that has led this ill-advised lurch to the very edges of experimentation on its players is indeed a modern day, well respected ‘champion’ of the game and celebrated hero of the club whom I believe had reached almost mythical proportions in the eyes of some of his football playing peers – a recognised champion for whom winning was the only prize worth having I suspect, and whose point of view no one had the temerity or strength to override.  If the coach who was driving this programme of supplement experimentation was your average ‘Joe’ who didn’t come with the aura of success surrounding him, I wonder if all of the players would have fallen quite so quickly into line?

When it comes to motivation – everything is contextual, including the culture of leadership that is in play. We ignore this fact at our peril.

I would love to read your thoughts and comments here on this subject of motivation vs context.

Drop me an email to brian@precisionprofiling.com.au if you would like to discuss further how to create the right environment for your people so that their motivation is channelled in the most appropriate way for all concerned.

Until then… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your team.

Undoubtedly you do not want to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’ in turning a people-focused culture around, so here are some tips on how best to address the issue of group underperformance in a more systematic and comprehensive way that avoids short term knee-jerk reactions or ‘scape-goating.’

Leadership from the Top

First and foremost, cultures tend to follow the direction and focus that the leader provides regardless of whether that is through the leader’s action or inaction, commission or omission. Therefore it is advisable for you as the leader to get on the front foot and announce from the outset that complacency leading to poor performance will no longer be tolerated. You need to be seen and heard repeating this message as often as possible, as well as clearly outlining to your organisation or team, the strategies and plans that will be put in place to support this ‘line in the sand.’ As well as actively communicating this message whenever and wherever the opportunity arises, actions by you as their leader such as championing outstanding behaviour that leads to extraordinary results, helps to remind the people within your culture that this topic is now very high on your radar.

For example – I had just completed a series of nationwide workshops for a client of mine focused specifically on the subject of ‘Prospecting’ for their Business Development executives, and one of the key topics on the training agenda was the simple task of how to ask directly for referrals from current satisfied business customers. Immediately following the workshop, one of the participants made the conscious decision to actively engage in this one change in his behaviour. As a consequence he proceeded to write $5 million in extra business within three weeks of the workshop which represented a very significant increase to his current portfolio. As a result of hearing about this rapid turnaround in this one individual’s performance, his leaders not only spread the word of his success internally to all of his colleagues nationwide, but they made it an imperative action for everyone to take as a result. Within only four weeks, the successful ‘role model’ was nominated as Business Development Manager of the month due to his stand-out performance, the key message being not his extraordinary results, but the change in behaviour that led to such a demonstrable and immediate pay-off. This has already begun to affect a groundswell of focused activity and accomplishment that was previously lying dormant within this people-centric (‘we don’t sell here – we relate!’) culture.

Creating the Urgency for Change

Because we are all creatures of habit and the most difficult habits to break or change are the ones with which we feel most comfortable, it is important to tackle inertia and resistance head-on.  People need to know where this spotlight on underperformance is originating from; why it is important for them to change; and why it is so time-sensitive. Therefore it is important to spell out the reasons loud and clear, and in particular why further resistance or complacency is not an option. If there is not an obvious crisis already brewing that you can readily draw their attention to, it will be important for you to find clear and irrefutable evidence supporting this need for change and the urgency with which change has to happen. I am not saying that you should manufacture false evidence or drag out half-truths, but if, as the leader, you genuinely and congruently believe you have an underperforming culture which is confirmed by group or team profiling, then chances are you will be able to find the evidence quite easily, in the form of falling sales graphs; customer feedback research; cultural surveys; industry benchmarks and the like. And the message that must be drawn from this supporting evidence, is that underperformance needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, or everyone including you, will suffer the consequences as a group. The intention is to ensure that the pain of not changing will be perceived as being greater than the pain of changing.

Re-Aligning the Focus

Now that the negative consequences have been clearly laid out for all to hear and see, it is equally important to paint the positive alternatives that might lay ahead as a result and re-align the focus on what the team or the organisation has been challenged to achieve via a turnaround in performance. While some might call this the ‘vision thing’ or the ‘light on the hill’ I prefer to see it more as the ‘carrot’ to support the ‘stick’ that has been clearly communicated, so that both aspects of people’s motivational strategies have been taken into account. From a group profiling perspective it is important to be aware that for some people their strongest motivator is to avoid a pain while for others it is to achieve a gain, so it is important to ensure that both sides of the motivational coin are covered, if you want to gain alignment across the board for driving out complacency. If this re-alignment can include appropriate team or organisational benchmarks and measurements as part of a set of stretch targets then even better.

Now that you have clearly set the scene and created the prevailing mood for change from within your team or organisation, it is time to lay down some of the supporting structures and strategies to engineer not only the turnaround in performance, but also its sustainability long term. Up until now, all that has been addressed is the ‘why,’ but without the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ and the ‘what if’ being addressed, you have the direction and maybe some forward motion, but very little else to support the vehicle. You need to lay down proper infrastructure, supply the road map, and set out the road rules with appropriate signage along the way in order to keep things on track towards your ultimate destination.

In future blogs, I will talk further on the structure and support needed to drive out underperformance.

The topics I will be covering are:-

• Training and Education
• Ongoing Support Development – Mentoring, Coaching and Managing
• Performance Measurement – Appropriate and Accurate KPIs
• Reward and Recognition – Team and Individual
• Celebration
• Performance Management
• Capability – Individual and Organisational

I look forward to your own comments on this subject, and if you know of anyone who heads up a team or a company who may benefit from reading this material due to their current business circumstances, please forward this on to them. If you or they would like to chat with me further about the solution to wiping out group underperformance in the workplace, especially if it is showing up in the form of cultural malaise, email me at  brian@precisionprofiling.com.au . I’d love to share with you the benefits of taking the right action.

Until next time… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less.  Have a great week – Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick?  Through ‘Motivational Fingerprinting’ we uncover what you do, how you do it and why you do it, and most importantly, the hidden patterns that lead to your success, and that of your staff.

…”Generation Y. You’ve heard that they don’t watch TV, and you’ve probably been told that they don’t read that much, and you certainly can’t tell Gen Y what is cool. So how do you reach these 71 million “Millennials” that spend over 200 billion dollars annually and will soon replace the baby boomer generation as the largest percentage of the workforce? The answer is simple… you stop marketing to them.

First, let’s look at who they are. As a Baby Boomer, I can tell you that this generation are our own invention. We raised Gen Y to believe that they can do anything and be anything. We made their lives easy enough that they now believe they deserve to live first and work second. So the first thing we have to do is stop being annoyed at our own creation and embrace the brilliance of this Gen Y community.

This is the most optimistic generation to ever walk the face of the planet. They absolutely believe that miracles are possible. They refuse to work in a job that does not bring them a sense of joy. They care about the earth and servicing their community. In Gen Y, we have created the possibility for everything that we wanted for the world. So we must stop whining about them being entitled and embrace the power of this generation. Once we do that, we can then begin to take a closer look at who they are, what makes them tick, and what they want from our businesses.

How do companies that have been successful at marketing to Gen Y speak to this demographic? To answer that, first we have to understand the four areas Gen Y considers before purchasing a product or service.

1. Cheap cost
2. Good quality
3. Fast service
4. An “experience”

When Apple created the 99-cent download that took eight seconds to transact, they hit the nail on the head with Gen Y. Music is an experience, the quality is stellar, the cost is low, and the purchase happens instantly. What did Apple do right?  They spoke directly to Gen Y and asked the question, “What do you want?”

Living in an age where information is everywhere and where everyone can reach them, the Gen Y community is very selective about who they listen to. Just look at their social media accounts, and you’ll recognize that they get their information from one another, not from us, and certainly not from the media.  And the information they get from each other is not in emails, which most of them don’t even touch anymore. They text one another. They IM. They watch each other on YouTube. And sometimes they do all three at the same time. Most importantly, Gen Y does not care about what you have to say unless you have been endorsed by their friends. They care about what their community says, and they take each other and their network’s recommendations very seriously.

So taking that into account, how do you reach them? Understand that Gen Y is an “experience” culture. They do not want to be told what to like or what to do. They want to experience the world for themselves with their friends and then pass their own judgment.

There is one more major element to consider, and that is how to earn their respect when you are talking with Gen Y:- Authenticity. They don’t waste time on people or companies that are not being real with them.  This generation has seen it all, from televised wars to 9-11 to the hanging of Hussein. They know real when they see it, and it takes them all of three seconds to pass that judgment.

So what does all this mean? It means that you cannot directly market to them until you buy into them, until you value their perspective on life. So while other experts are out there giving you “tricks” to market to Gen Y, stop marketing to them and start listening to them. Hang out with them. Experience life with them. Respect them. If you do, their outlook on life will change you. When you do that, you’ll find your audience within this generation. Then talking “with” them, not “at” them will sell your business….”

This article was written by executive coach and Generation Y expert, Bea Fields. Fields is co-author of Millennial Leaders: Success Stories From Today’s Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders. http://MillennialLeaders.com.

Until next time… Let’s seek to understand more and judge less. – Cheers Brian

Precision Profiling – What Makes You Tick? Revealing the hidden secrets about yourself that even you didn’t know.

When it comes to ‘values violators’ you have to draw a line in the sand, regardless of their performance. Jack Welch, ex CEO of General Electric, said it best. To précis him…

… We have four types of executives in our company. Type 1 deliver the results and believe in our values. We hold them up as role models. Type 2 do not meet their commitments nor do they share our values. That’s a no brainer. They need to leave. Type 3 believe in our values but sometimes fall short in their performance commitments. They need to be supported, mentored and coached, and if that fails we need to find the right fit for them. Type 4 deliver short term, measurable results, but without regard to our company values. They are the most difficult to deal with because they ‘bring home the bacon’ while people get hurt in the process. Our decision to remove Type 4 executives was a watershed for our company. Once we took those tough decisions, our message to our people was clear and our culture flourished.

Tip #5

“DRH” or “HRD”?  Which is your focus?

Language is such a powerful tool for understanding and influence, especially in the business of business. For example, imagine you are the manager of “HRD.”  i.e. Human Resource Development. That label says a lot.  Immediately you get the feeling that these people for whom you are responsible are merely ‘resources’ or ‘things’ to be moved around and developed like a master puppeteer. Just like other resources such as raw materials; working capital; or facilities. Just numbers on a page. But they are not. They are your human capital not ‘head-count’ – the most amazing and potentially powerful resource you have. So what if you were to re-title yourself as manager of “DRH”.  i.e. Development of Resourceful Humans. Now where does your focus go? And how might your goals and plans change as a result of being the manager of DRH? That’s food for thought.

Precision Profiling — What Makes You Tick? Revealing the hidden secrets about yourself and your staff that even you didn’t know, and how to leverage what you discover for the benefit of you and your company.