Does your organiztion have a clear purpose? Do the people
you serve see you as important to their business or to
their lives?  Does every customer and every employee
clearly understand your purpose? The purpose of an
organization is clarified in the mission, vision, and
operating principles. I call this grouping the core message
of an organization. If this core message isn’t clarified
and deeply embedded, then it is likely people in your
organization are operating on their own. This is a recipe
for conflict, confusion, and chaos.

Most organizations have a mission. Do all of your employees
and customers know your mission? Do your employees live it?
Do they see it being carried out in daily decision making,
work processes, and communications? Your mission is about
what you do and who you do it for. This means that every
decision, every work process, and every interaction is
consciously aimed at providing valuable service to
customers.

Every employee needs to understand the organization mission
and the part s/he plays in making it happen. Every employee
should have a personal mission that is congruent with the
organization mission. A mission focuses our thinking and
behavior. It also offers each person a sense of importance.
People are not only coming to work to earn a pay check, but
to do something important that benefits others.

The vision is where you want to go. The vision is about the
level at which you will be accomplishing the mission. It
may include an expansion of the mission to serve a larger
market, with higher quality and more services. The vision
adds excitement and challenge to what we do. If your
organization has a vision, is every member enrolled in it?

We enroll people in the vision by getting them engaged as
key players in making it happen. We can engage them by
asking them to tell us how they can help the organization
realize the vision. Inherent in the visioning process is a
deep belief on the part of the visionaries (you) that the
people in your organization are capable of greatness. The
people in your organization are not the vehicles through
which you get your vision. They are the vision. They are
the people operating at the level of success that you have
imagined for them. As a leader you encourage, teach, and
give feedback to help them see themselves succeeding at
this high level.

The operating principles, or values, tell us how we do
things in order to accomplish our mission and realize our
vision. Operating principles bring consistency to an
organization. An example of an operating principle is: “We
will treat every person as a Very Important Person, without
any conditions”.  As we navigate through our day this
principle becomes a question.  “Am I treating this person
as a V.I.P.?  Did I treat that person as a V.I.P.?  If I
did not, how can I repair the situation?”

The act of creating operating principles does not guarantee
behavior that is aligned with the mission and vision. When
fear or anger take over, good intentions tend to evaporate.
Poor behavior is then justified as necessary to get the job
done. An operating principle is a behavioral standard, a
nonnegotiable expectation regarding the kind of “service”
we offer to each other as well as to our customers. When a
person’s behavior falls short of the standard, it is an
opportunity to provide constructive feedback. When a person
acts in ways consistent with the operating principles, it
is an opportunity to provide positive feedback. Clear
operating principles paired with accountability will create
an environment that consistently ensures success.

The mission, vision, and operating principles make up the
core of an organization. This core must be the driving
force in all decision making and interactions with people.
Internally driven organizations are strong, trustworthy,
and focused. There is a sense of stability regardless of
external conditions. As a  customer, I can trust this
organization to do the right thing and to do its best to
help me.  As an employee I can trust this organization to
be fair and consistent. Employees see themselves as part of
the organization and are willing to help.

Without a strong core, organizations become weak,
inconsistent, and chaotic. With no clarity about direction
or values, there is always a sense of instability. This is
especially true during difficult times. Members feel little
or no trust, and expect the organization to try take
advantage.  Employees see themselves as separate from the
organization and feel powerless. We find this weakened
state in organizations that focus only on surviving.
Organizations that operate without a clear purpose are
organizations that have forgotten who they are. A strong
core message is a declaration of intent, an abiding purpose.

The steps in creating a strong core message are clear, but
not easy.  They are as follows:
1. Create the mission, vision, and operating principles.
Make sure they are consistent with each other. Some kind of
consensus process is important.  Everyone in the
organization does not have to be involved in the creation
of these documents. A representative leadership group will
do. There is opportunity at the departmental and individual
levels for participation from everyone.
2. Leaders need to start living the words they have
created. Current policies and processes should be measured
by the standards implied in the core message. Ways of
treating people must be examined.  Every leader needs to
reflect and ask for feedback from others.
3.  Employees need to be enrolled by communicating these
core statements to them, and asking for their ideas on what
needs to happen. Employees can give feedback on work
processes, management behavior, and morale. They can be
involved in creating new processes and solving problems.
4. Issues and fears must be addressed at all levels. That
which is not talked about needs to be talked about. Honesty
with compassion is the best policy.

The inside creates the outside. A powerful core message
will create a powerful structure in an organization.
People will be guided to relate in healthy ways toward each
other.  Powerful structure and positive relationships will
create an organization to which people want to belong.
Pride in belonging and in purposeful work done well will be
encouraged. Passion for the mission and vision will create
enthusiasm. Most of us know it is important that we as
individuals know who we are. It is just as important that
an organization knows what it is, where it’s going, and
what it can be. This will result in customers who clearly
understand your value to them.

—————————————————-
William Frank Diedrich is a speaker, executive coach, and
the author of Beyond Blaming: Unleashing Power and Passion
in People and Organizations. William offers keynotes and
workshops on leadership and moving beyond blaming. William
also offers an online leadership class and a free
e-newsletter, Transformation Times. Learn more about
William at http://noblaming.com

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006 at 7:42 pm and is filed under Business, Business Thinking, Growth, Management, Strategy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.