CHAPTER 1

Part 1

Vision, Mission, and Culture

The first place to look when setting out to assemble your dream team is at yourcompany. Remember what I said about only getting the staff you deserve? If youwant to attract a better quality of person than the ones you currently employ,then you've got to change various things about your company.

It's just like baking a cake. If you've always baked chocolate cakes, but nowyou want to try an apple crumble, then it's no use sticking with the recipe forthe chocolate cake. You've got to get a recipe for an apple crumble. If youdon't, you'll continue to produce chocolate cakes. It's as simple as that.

So how do you go about changing your company to attract the type of personyou're after? You need to go back to basics and review your vision, mission, andculture.

Yes, that's right. You need to re-examine the very fundamentals of yourbusiness. You need to look at its core values and ideals and then change orrealign those that would deter would-be team members.

So how do you do that?

Well, start with your company's vision. By the way, it may surprise you to knowthat the vast majority of businesses don't actually have a Vision Statement.Yes, I know the owner may have a rough idea of where the company is going orwhere it would be nice for it to go, but the point is most don't have a well-thought-outand articulated Vision Statement that is written down for all tosee.

And here's something else that may surprise you: Of those companies that do havea Vision Statement, the vast majority seem intent on keeping it a secret. That'sright. No one except a handful of their senior executives know anything about itat all. I often ask the first person I come across when visiting abusiness—usually the receptionist—what the company's vision is, anddo you know what? They never can tell me. I find this shocking, because if acompany's people don't know what they are aiming for, how will they know inwhich direction to aim? How will they know what their progress is and whetherthey are moving closer to or further away from achieving that vision?

I'm a firm believer in giving people ownership of the overall vision of abusiness; in that way they will all strive for the same thing. They will alsoall have similar values and appreciate the same general ideals. They will allidentify with the business and with each other as team members.

So, what then should a company's Vision Statement contain? What, for thatmatter, is a Vision Statement?

Let me answer that by means of an example. I'll use one of my companies,ActionCOACH, as an example.

When I set out to build this company, I built it with the end in mind. In otherwords, I built it according to how I envisaged it when it was finished. This isvery important, because it affects everything you do in your building stage.Your vision, mission, and goals will have to take this into account.

My vision for ActionCOACH is:

World Abundance through Business Reeducation

Notice it is world abundance, not Australian or Southeast Queensland abundance.This sets the tone for the whole company and its future. It also dictates howothers see us.

The Vision Statement is the long-term goal of your business. And by long-term, Imean 100 years. Don't mess around with short-term goals here. We're talkingabout the grand picture of what your business will be like when its finished.Think of it as the strategic intent of the business.

Vision Statements are meant to be living documents. By that I mean they mustn'tjust hang in the boardroom or some other hallowed place where they never getseen. They should be prominently displayed all over the place where absolutelyeveryone can see them all the time. You see, it's critical that your entire teamidentifies with the Vision Statement and accepts it as the team's vision too.Whenever I recruit new team members, the very first thing I discuss with them isour vision. I let them know what we are striving for. If they can't identifywith it, I tell them they're welcome to leave then and there.

Let's now consider the Mission Statement.

Again, many businesses simply don't have one. If yours is one of them, thenbefore you do anything else, spend some time developing one. But before you do,do you know what a Mission Statement is?

The Mission Statement states how your business is going to accomplish itsvision. It is obviously going to be very much more detailed than the VisionStatement. It should clearly spell out the following:

• Who you are.

• What business you are in.

• Who your customers are.

• What makes you different from your competition.

This last point is very important. It's something you need to spend time gettingclear in your own mind first. You see, the day you differentiate yourself fromthe rest, you won't have to compete on price anymore. That's why a GiorgioArmani shirt costs very much more than one from K-Mart. I mean, they might verywell be made from the same material and in the same factory, but the GiorgioArmani costs more precisely because of marketing differentiation.

To illustrate what I'm getting at, let's consider the Mission Statement of mycompany, ActionCOACH.

Once again, this is discussed with every applicant during the interview process.It is explained and talked about at length. Applicants are given the opportunityto ask questions and to say if they feel comfortable or uncomfortable with it.If they don't agree with it or feel it doesn't excite them, they are invited toleave and look for a company that better matches their outlook.

Here are a few great questions to ask yourself when developing your MissionStatement:

1. What do you, as a team, want more of?

2. What do you, as a team, want less of?

3. Describe the kinds of relationships you wish to have with your

• Customers

• Suppliers

• Shareholders

• Competitors

• Community

• Employees

Once you have written down your Mission Statement, look over the statementsbelow and check those that are true:

___ Is the Mission Statement future oriented?

___ Is the Mission Statement likely to lead to a better future for the organization?

___ Is the Mission Statement consistent with the organization's values?

___ Does the Mission Statement...