Leading Change

Smart vs. Healthy

Is your business Smart and Healthy? In his book, The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni explains that it is natural for most leaders to focus on the “Smart” aspects of business, such as financial metrics, sales and marketing, tracking software, compliance systems, shareholder value and strategic planning. But in order to grow, a Smart approach to business must be coupled with the hallmarks of a Healthy organization, where high-trust relationships build high morale and productivity, with minimal opportunities for politics and confusion – which leads to very low turn over. We need to be both Smart and Healthy to grow. However, of the two, the greatest business opportunities can be found in pursing the Healthy.

I have always been a Healthy-business focused leader. While our business grew to include two locations and more than 20 team members, I have experienced tremendous tension on attempting to balance the principles of a Smart and Healthy business. Reading and implementing the principles in The Advantage has lifted the fog and has energized me as a leader.

This past week, we had our first monthly Executive Team Meeting. This team includes the Directors from each of our two offices, our Group Business Manager and Director of HR, our Marketing and Systems Director and our Vice President and Director of Second Mile Service and Guest Experience. These five professionals receive the majority of my business focus, time and energy. Our goal as a team is developing high trust, working through creative tension together, and establishing accountability and clarity with decision-making aligned with our purpose and vision.

I meet with each of these executive team members individually once each month to listen and learn, and to provide the resources necessary to help each leader grow.

We will now meet once each month as a team to discuss the company’s agenda, which I have set. We will work through tension, have healthy debate and make clear decisions and assignments. Following each meeting, each leader is tasked with updating their own team members on the direction and decisions the leadership team has made. Using this method, the executive team’s message will be clearly communicated across the company creating unity, and minimal confusion about where we are going as a brand.

This is a new structure for us, and after our first meeting all of us were very excited and can see the benefits already! I will keep you updated as to what we learn and how we grow using this model.