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Narrative of Promise

David Russell

In our Upgrade to an Ownership Culture webinar last week, Roy vanNorstrand said the phrase "narrative of promise."  I love the words...  According to www.Dictionary.com:

Narrative is a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious.

Promise is a declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc., or an express assurance on which expectation is to be based.

When you hire someone there is a narrative of promise that you will manage them encouragingly, develop their skills to do work they enjoy, and retain them by providing a work environment where they motivate themselves to become as excited about your business as you are.

The narrative of promise is that you will provide employees an Ownership Culture.  (Everyone wants to feel like a valued member of a team.)

Here are three quick questions to confirm your employees are fully engaged in an Ownership Culture:

What percentage of your employees:

  1. Take full responsibility to complete work with excellence and make certain clients are satisfied like you do, as an owner?     _____%
  2. Have the same amount of passion for your business as you do?     _____%
  3. Balance efficiency, effectiveness, and maximizing profitability?     _____%

There is always room for improvement so if your answers are an average of 90% or more, then you have a very strong company culture.

If your answers are an average of 75-89%, then I suggest your company culture needs more attention and investment to maximize your opportunities and profitability.

If your answers are an average of 50-74% then I suggest you are working too hard for the profit you are achieving.  As scary as it sounds, your company culture is killing you.

I encourage you to invest a cup of coffee, tea, or a Jamba Juice smoothie to ponder just what is the actual narrative of promise you have made to your employees, and how well you are fulfilling it.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

  1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
  2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
  3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
  4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.