Glenn just returned from a seven-day Sabbath. It wasn’t a weeklong vacation but a Sabbath, and he decided to implement it company-wide.
The decision Glenn made to halt his work every seven weeks was one he made in alignment with his company’s core values. He knew the importance of taking a break to reflect, recalibrate, and recharge. While that’s something he can do whenever he wants as the owner, it’s not something that his team has the liberty to do at will.
By doing it together, not only does everyone win, but ultimately they, as a company, are living their core value. Glenn recognized that for him to take a 7-day break and tell his team that family is important but not allow them the time to spend with their families would be a conflict of interest with the core values that he set for the company.
It’s estimated that 90% of businesses will fail or go out of business at some point because most companies do not operate in alignment with their core values. Today’s business culture operates as a money game, but in reality it’s a people game. The phrase “It’s business; it’s not personal” is overused, and frankly, it’s wrong. Business is personal. A company is only a reflection of its people’s collective actions and thoughts.
This morning, Glenn broke down the first 2 steps of the 12 steps to building a great company:
- Hire people based on their character, not their credentials. And when firing, do the same. This holds true in your personal life: You are the boss of your life, and you get to choose who you “hire” to be in your circle. Who are you talking to at the water cooler? Who are you spending your lunch breaks with? You make a choice.
- It’s crucial that you instill life skills, not just job skills in your company. A company that hires and supports people who are really good at their jobs but lead miserable personal lives is not a good company. A company with employees who understand that life outside of the business is just as important, if not more, than life inside the business is what makes a great company.
There is a fine line between business and personal, but when we go too far on either side, it’s impossible to build great.
Key Points/Highlights:
- How do we build the professionalism of business and intertwine it with the personal side of life so that we can truly live out our values?
- Great companies understand how important it is to align their work with their core values and priorities.
- For a company to be exceptional, they must have an abundance of talent.
- Resumes and/or experience don’t matter; character matters. If you don’t have the right people, you can’t build a great company.
- Do the leaders in your company (the one you run or the one you work for) actually live out their core values, or are they just saying it?
