“What you believe, what you say, and what you do must be in alignment.” I read that somewhere the other day, and thought, “Isn’t that the way it works with everything?”
How about this old cliché: “Actions speak louder than words.”
And Andrew Luck, the next great thing coming to the NFL, says a high school friend used to say this: “What you do is so loud I can’t hear what you say.”
Many organizations are trying to close the gap between what they think they’re doing and what they’re actually doing. They believe it and they say it. But are they actually doing it? There’s really only one way to know: People have to step up and either say, “Yes, you’re doing it.” Or, “No, you’re not. And here’s why …” That last part – “And here’s why” – is at least as important as knowing the mark isn’t being hit because if organizations don’t know why, they won’t know what to do better.
Strategic Plans espouse the desire to “Develop a culture that emphasizes identification with the customer, employee independence, and innovation.” That kind of culture thrives on transparency and open communication. The only way to achieve these goals is by working together – as a team.
That means our words and our actions will have to be in alignment.
I’ve seen this quote attributed to many different people, including John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA: "It's amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit." Regardless of who actually said it, that's how a team achieves its goals - everyone pulling in the same direction; each dependent on the other to do their part.
If an organization's executives are on board, the workforce has to do their part and test the waters to determine if they’re all talk and no action.
No comments:
Post a Comment