I regularly get the privilege of welcoming new employees into our company. As part of our orientation and new hire training process, I go over our company history (three generations!) along with a deep dive of our company’s mission, vision, and core values statements.

In an effort to help you think through your own mission, vision, and values, I wanted to share these components with you. I do not expect anyone to take a look at our mission, vision, and core values and immediately decide to copy them because they are so good! However, I do think someone reading this may get some ideas for their own company statements.

Because I have already covered in previous posts the benefits to creating these statements of mission, vision, and core values, I will not review those here. Instead, I will simply communicate and explain these statements for our company.

Mission Statement

The Mike Patton Auto Family seeks to honor God by impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and community.

We believe that God owns this business and we are simply His stewards of it for a season. We want to make sure that all we do in and through the business honors Him. By the same token, we do not want to do anything that will dishonor Him.

We believe that we are here, and that this business exists, for the purpose of impacting people for eternity. We believe that this is our ultimate goal.

Vision Statement

Moving people.

This statement is short, but is full of meaning. First, it obviously references transportation, reflecting the automobile business we have chosen. But it goes much deeper than that.

We want to take employees, customers, and those in the community and we want to “move” them from their current position (or circumstances) to a better place. Regardless of where they are in life (financially, professionally, emotionally, etc.), we want to move them to an improved situation. Regardless of how they interact with us, we want them to be better off having done so.

If you are interested in following my process to create your own mission, vision, and core values, then check out my new ebook – Why Does Your Business Exist?

Now Available on Amazon!!!

Click Here For Ebook!

Core Values

Integrity
We do what is right even when no one is watching.

This core value comes first for a reason. Without integrity, we will not have the impact that we desire. We take this very seriously. We will extend grace when it comes to mistakes and errors, giving people a chance to grow and improve in their jobs. We are not as tolerant of violations in this area. We need to know we can trust our coworkers without question.

Excellence
We are constantly redefining our goals, expectations, boundaries, and potential.

Our team’s talents and performance vary from person to person. That is normal. We simply believe that regardless of your talent or performance today, you should want to be better tomorrow. We want teammates that are constantly striving to learn and grow, improving every day!

Employee Development
We strive to create an atmosphere that inspires and enables people to reach their full potential.

As a company, we want to meet our employees where they are as they strive for excellence. Our goal is to provide the resources and inspiration required to “move” them forward on their path. Sometimes this means they advance within our company and sometimes it means they move on to other opportunities. Either way, we want to help!

Spiritual Growth
We provide the opportunity for all to know God and make Him known.

No one who works in our company is required to believe what we believe. However, we make it clear early on that God is the owner of our company. Therefore, all that we do centers around Him. This includes many efforts to sow seeds of faith all around through various efforts. We will not force anyone to believe, but they will certainly have opportunities to hear.

Community Impact
We use our talents and treasures to make a difference in those who need it most.

We believe we are part of the community in which we work and therefore have the responsibility to give back to that community. Whether through benevolence or sponsorships, community service or fundraising, we are going to take the time and energy to give to those who need it.

Your Mission, Vision, And Core Values

Hopefully, you have found this helpful as an example of a good set of mission, vision, and core values statements. If you only gleaned one idea from this, I consider it worthwhile.

If you want to take this further and develop your company’s own set of mission, vision, and values statements, you should check out my ebook – Why Does Your Business Exist? A Christian Business Guide to Creating your Mission, Vision, and Values Statements.

It is now available on Amazon! I believe you will find this ebook to be a solid, step-by-step guide to help your team craft meaningful mission, vision, and values statements to use in guiding your company.

Is your company engaged in a strong mission, vision, and core values?

If not, are you ready to revisit this with your leadership?

Do you see the benefits from having a strong mission, vision, and core values?

Photo by ipopba/iStock

Lost Vision

My friend relayed his story about a time when he had to mentally step away from his business for a period of roughly 6 months. He was still present in this business on a daily basis, but his mind was far from there. He had another project he was working on that was consuming his attention.

Since his business had been humming along for quite a while, he was not worried. It was in good hands and he was right there on site in case anything went wrong. It seemed like the perfect situation.

Unfortunately, after a period of time, my friend noticed that sales had been trending downward. Even worse, his normal margins had begun to shrink. Knowing his company as well as he did, he knew he had to get to the bottom of what was causing the problem.

Back To Selling Music Boxes?

My friend’s business manufactures and sells music boxes. He built this business from scratch in his garage and now it was the largest of its kind in North America. This was not a typical small business and he did not expect to find a small problem.

As he stepped back into the business, he began to listen to what his salespeople were saying. What he found was not surprising to him, but might confuse you. He found that his salespeople had fallen into a habit of selling music boxes and he had to fix that!

Like I said, you might be confused about this point. Isn’t selling music boxes the central business of this company? Actually, according to my friend, he never sold music boxes as he built the company. He has never sold music boxes and did not intend to start now.

Selling Product Vs. Solution

From the first day of his business, rather than selling music boxes, my friend sold a solution to the risk that small retailers faced every day. He did not focus on the features and benefits of his music boxes. He did not focus on the pricing of the various product in his portfolio.

Instead of selling them on his particular product, he would show the small business owners how his product line could help them overcome the risk associated with their daily overhead expenses. He sold them on how his product line could increase their revenue without a significant investment on their part. He provided a solution to the problem they faced.

Unfortunately, he found that his sales force had begun selling music boxes and no longer sold the solution to the retailers’ risk. In doing so, they lost some sales when the retailers focused on comparing features and benefits with other product lines. The salespeople created reduced margins when they began competing on price, negotiating in desperation to prevent a further loss of sales.

Restored Vision

Have you seen this happen in your business? Have you seen your sales force forget the vision that you first gave them? Have you witnessed their focus shift to competing head-to-head with their competition and giving up on what makes your company’s product unique? Have you experienced the loss of sales, shrinking margins, increased turnover, and general frustration I mentioned earlier?

If so, I think it is worth your time to see what my friend did to correct his situation. He did not walk in and fire the sales manager. He did not place the blame on his sales force. Instead, he recognized that he was the one individual that could correct the problem. He stepped back into the business to begin recasting the original vision of his company – selling a solution to risk.

Actions Taken

He first initiated conversations with members of his sales team, telling them what made their company different. He created incentives for the salespeople that rewarded them for using certain “solution” focused word tracks when talking with customers. He made it a point at every opportunity to talk about the solutions his company provides, taking the focus off of the product. The more he talked about it, the more they talked about it.

In a period of three months, the sales trend reversed and margins increased. They are now seeing better results than they have seen in a long time. As impressive as this is, you can have the very same results. In fact, you do not even have to wait until you see a sales drop!

Cast (And Recast) The Vision!

Our job as leaders in our businesses is to continuously cast the vision. Repeat over and over whatever it is that makes your company and its products or services different. Do this with incentives, compensation, and conversation. Just do it over and over. The only time you need to stop doing this is when you are tired of sales and margins being where they are and desire them to drop!

Obviously, this concept applies to every aspect of your business. If you want a culture that honors God and points others to Him, then you must cast and recast this vision just as often as you do your unique selling proposition. As Christian business leaders, we simply cannot afford to leave this job to anyone else.

Have you seen similar symptoms in your business?

What have you done to restore the original vision?

What next steps do you need to take?

Photo by shironosov/iStock

Challenging Vision!

Like I said, that has been over ten years ago. I never imagined then how hard the journey would be. I did not understand how difficult it would be to bring that vision to reality. I certainly underestimated the various forces that would oppose that vision.

First, I want to say that many of the ideas I had at the outset are now in place. Several of the brainstorms from those early years are now a reality. What I am going to describe in a minute is NOT intended to imply that we have not been successful in some areas or that we are giving up on chasing this vision as far as we can.

In fact, when I stop and really look around at all our team has accomplished in the past ten years, I am sometimes amazed. Sure, I envisioned more progress – that is what makes me tick. At the same time, we have come a long way.

Not Enough Progress!

The problem is that too often I look back to the vision I have had since the beginning and it seems like we are never going to fully realize it. It seems we are light years away from that picture and we seem like we are not moving forward at all.

Have you ever felt that way? Have you had a vision of what should be and felt your current position was too far away to ever reach it?

When I let it, this thought process really gets me down. I begin to lose hope, thinking that the progress we have made is not enough. I begin to think that I am the problem and that maybe someone else could have reached the “destination” by now.

What To Do?

While I know this is not productive thinking, it is real. This thinking comes on me a times when I least expect it and it paralyzes me. Until I can shake off the fog of this line of thinking, I am out of commission and no good for anyone!

So what are we supposed to do when this thinking comes on us? How are we to respond once it happens? How might we even prevent it in the first place?

King David’s Vision

Well, I think the following example from Scripture (2 Samuel 7:1-29) can be a huge help to us. I want to take a snapshot out of the life of King David, a man after God’s own heart. I think you will see that we can learn a lot from David’s actions that can be directly applied to our problem thinking!

After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
2 Samuel 7:1-2

In this snapshot, King David realized that he was living in luxury while the ark of God remained in a tent. He determined that he was going to build a great temple for God – one that would be worthy of His glory! Nathan, the prophet, initially agreed with David.

Vision Interrupted

Then God made it clear to Nathan that David was NOT to build the temple. For various reasons, God had reserved that task for David’s son Solomon. God told Nathan to relay this message to David.

As we read further, we see that David was certainly instrumental in gathering the materials that would be used to build the temple. We also see that David was still used by God after this scene, but not to build the temple. It was in fact built by Solomon.

What Should We Learn?

So, what can we learn from this passage? I actually think we can learn three lessons from this story. I will review the first in this post and the other two in my next posts. Hopefully, you will see how this passage can help us to respond to the problem-thinking we discussed earlier.

The first lesson we can learn is that sometimes God is going to use us in ways we anticipate and other times He is going to use someone else. We may sow the seeds today and someone else may be slated to reap the harvest. That is simply the way God works in His sovereignty.

In this case, David wanted to be the one used to build a temple for God. He wanted to complete the vision in his mind of the temple. Unfortunately, that was not a task God planned for him.

God still used David. Stories of his conquests continued on after this scene. Even though he was not the one to build the temple, David was given an incredible heritage because of his obedience to God. David may have wanted to build the temple, but he certainly cannot accuse God of leaving him out of His story!

Our Application

We are the same way. Maybe I will be the one to complete the vision He gave me. Maybe it will be someone after me. Maybe I am gathering the materials and they will be the ones to build. Who knows? It is not my place to worry about it!

Instead, I must trust in God. I must trust that His plan is THE best plan and be willing to obey it. If I let the disappointment of today distract me from my work, then I am missing the fulfillment that comes from playing the role He has for me. Regardless of anything I may think (at times) to the contrary, that is a pretty cool role!

Has God changed your vision like this?

What was your reaction?

Has He proven faithful?

Photo by ESB Essentials/Shutterstock

Success vs. Fulfillment

Fortunately, there is a plethora of articles, books, and courses out there to help the budding entrepreneur get started and build a viable business (see info on a strong, new resource, Brazzlebox, at the bottom of this post). Unfortunately, I believe there is just as much of a lack of articles written to help the entrepreneur achieve fulfillment.

Success in business is one thing. Fulfillment is something else entirely.

Sure, most small businesses fail in the first year and many more during the first three years. But many succeed. Even for those that succeed for three, five, even 10 or 20 years into the future, the question of fulfillment remains.

For those entrepreneurs that succeed, many become serial entrepreneurs and start multiple businesses over their career. It seems many are trying to scratch an itch that will not go away. While they continue to find success in each endeavor, they also continue to come up empty when it comes to the true fulfillment they seek.

Why No Fulfillment

Why is this true? Why do so many of them succeed in multiple businesses without ever finding the true fulfillment they desire? What is missing?

I think I have the answer. In fact, I think there are 3 questions an entrepreneur must answer first, before doing anything else about starting their new business.

Entrepreneurs often find many challenges when they begin the work that starts once they finally decide, “OK, I’m starting a business.” They have to find funding. They must determine the initial scale of their business based on resources they have and can acquire. There is MUCH work to do.

My advice is to put a hold on all of that work. Before taking the first steps toward overcoming these challenges, I believe the best advice I can give them is to answer the following three questions. It is my experience that they will find future challenges easier to overcome as a result of the clarity they achieve with the answers to these questions.

1. WHY am I doing this?

I believe this is the central question to virtually any endeavor we undertake in our lives. The “Why?” is so critical that I cannot imagine operating without it ever again! When you have operated with it AND without it before, you know EXACTLY what I mean!

Simply put, the answer to this question is whatever is driving you to this point of starting a business. It could be the need for full independence or additional income. It could be the desire to work from wherever you want or the belief that you have a better way of doing things.

Whatever the case, your “Why?” must be a core driver for you. Don’t answer this question quickly or without deep thought and consideration. This answer needs to have staying power.

It will give you the fuel you need to get through the messy parts of starting a business. It will get you up in the morning and put a kick in your step when everything around you says to hit the snooze button. If your answer to “Why?” will not fit this description, you have the wrong answer. Keep looking.

Warning

BEWARE!! Many entrepreneurs before you have tried to answer this question with the stuff of this world and have failed. Maybe they have succeeded in building a business, but they failed to find fulfillment. The ONLY way your “Why?” will not lead you to the same disappointment is if you get it from God.

Bathe this question in prayer. Seek God’s wisdom for your answer here and He will be faithful to lead you to the fulfillment you were created to experience. Any other path is certain to end without it.

2. WHO owns this business?

This is another question that will bring clarity to future decisions and challenges. It could be that you are starting this business with a partner. It could be that you are doing it alone, but your spouse is going to be involved at some level.

Whatever the case, the ownership of this business must be determined at the VERY beginning. Any confusion or doubt here will create serious difficulties in the future. This decision alone could wreck the business at a time when it is beginning to look like it will succeed. Do not rush past this question.

You will likely find plenty of advice about whether or not to have a partner. You will probably hear multiple opinions on how to structure your business in the event you have more than one person involved in the ownership. Do you due diligence here and make a wise choice.

One piece of advice I will give you here – make sure any partners you enlist are in alignment with your answer to the first question of “Why?”. If you have any disagreement here, you are already in trouble.

Warning

BEWARE!! As with the “Why?” question above, this question has caused many entrepreneurs before you to end up empty and unfulfilled – even with a successful business. The reason they end up there is because they did not recognize the true Owner of their business from the start.

God owns your business. In fact, He owns EVERYTHING and is not afraid to say it. To whatever extent you try to act otherwise, you will find trouble.

If you will acknowledge that God owns your business and operate it in a way that aligns with His Word…from the very beginning…then you will put yourself on the path to fulfillment you can only imagine at this point.

3. WHAT is the vision for this business?

When I bring up vision, most business people immediately think about it in the context of a mission statement and core values. While this is somewhat true, your own personal vision for the business may be slightly different.

When I say you must determine your vision for the business, I mean that you need to sketch out a destination. Where do you want to end up? If you imagine this business will exist for 30 years, what will it look like in 30 years?

Almost like Stephen Covey’s funeral exercise, you need to put in writing what you want people to say about that business at the end. What kind of reputation do you want it to have? Who and what do you want it to impact? How?

Without a clear destination in mind, you will waffle over too many decisions during the coming years. If you have clarity here from the very beginning, these decisions will come much more easily to you.

Warning

BEWARE!! You knew this was coming, right? A vision that is centered around temporary results (worldly results) may help you succeed in the business world as an entrepreneur, but you will not find the fulfillment you need.

Pray through this answer. Seek guidance in the Bible for this vision. If you allow God to give you this vision, you cannot imagine the impact it will have on your results. I promise you He is faithful to give it to you when your heart is ready for it.

Encouragement To The Entrepreneur

If you are an entrepreneur (or desire to be one), I want to encourage you! You are a critical part of what God is doing today. You will likely create jobs and improve lives as a result of your work. That is admirable and deserving of praise!

I urge you to take these three questions to heart, answering them before moving on to the work you have ahead of you. You may feel they are slowing you down and keeping you from the real work you need to get done. I get it.

Ignore that “feeling” and plow through them. Take the necessary time to answer them well and you will thank me later. It will make all the difference in the world!

Have you already answered these questions about your business?

What challenges have you faced when these answers helped (or could have)?

Are you prepared to answer these questions now?

Photo by mavo/Shutterstock

Overwhelmed Or Confident?

Think of times that you have made plans for the future. Did you feel overwhelmed with the task ahead of you? Or did you feel fairly confident that your vision for the future was something you could handle? While this may not seem like a big deal to you, I promise it is.

Here is the deal. When we have a vision for the future that is well within our grasp, we are not leaving room for God to act. Casting the vision for a future that does not require God’s intervention is like telling Him that we do not need His help. In effect, we are putting ourselves on a pedestal, which is NOT good for our relationship with God!

Example From Scripture

Let’s take a look at an example from Scripture. When we read in Judges 6-7, we see God calling Gideon to deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Midianites. When Gideon finally agrees to lead the charge, he has over 30,000 men willing to fight against the 135,000 warriors of the enemy Midianites.

Gideon and the Israelites are clearly outnumbered, but God is not satisfied with the odds because there is still the possibility that the Israelites will take credit for the victory themselves:

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: ‘I did it myself.’”
Judges 7:2

Only By God’s Hand

If you are familiar with the story, you know that through a process or elimination, God reduces Gideon’s army to 300 soldiers. He delivers the Israelites in the following battle and everyone knows it was by His hand that victory was achieved. No one was under the illusion that Gideon was the mastermind behind the win.

You have probably heard it said that God will not give us more than we can handle. This is simply not true. The Scripture being referenced here is talking about temptation, not vision or difficulty.

God is most certainly going to allow us to experience difficulties that are bigger than we are. He wants us to embrace challenges and visions that are bigger than we are. It is in these seasons that we are more reliant on Him. This is exactly what He wants!

Same For Ministry Vision

The same principle applies to us and the vision we have for the ministry in our businesses. God wants to leverage our businesses in a way that draws many more people to Him. He wants us doing ministry through our business that is exponentially greater than we are.

I was challenged by a member of our team because my vision was too small. I was casting the vision for a future that we could create on our own, not one that required God to create through us.

Small Vision Is Bad

There are two critical reasons that a small vision is bad for us in our walk with God.

First, a smaller vision means less ministry will be accomplished through us. Fewer people will be impacted for Christ. This is certainly not something God wants to see happen.

Not only is this bad because more is truly possible, but also because a smaller vision achieved on our own will tempt us to take sole credit for it. Just like God told Gideon, we are likely to brag that we did it ourselves.

3 Steps For Greater Christian Ministry

If you truly desire to do God’s will through your business, then I recommend the following three steps:

1. Cast a vision that requires God’s hand.
2. Trust in Him to deliver it (but work as if it is up to you!).
3. Give Him the credit for what has been done!

How big is your vision for Christian ministry in your business?

Is it too big for you?

What needs to change with this vision?

photo by David Fulmer

In Stanley’s book, he goes into great detail about why vision is so important to Christian leadership. He also gives solid advice about how to go about casting that vision to your organization. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it! I would loan mine to you, but someone borrowed it several years ago and has failed to return it. I am hoping they read this post and get the hint!

This is my third post in the series on Credible Christian Leadership. In this series we are looking at the four building blocks of Christian leadership proposed by James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book, Credibility. We started with honesty in my last post. Today, we are talking about being forward-looking, or casting vision.

Vision From Two Perspectives

Anyway, let’s talk about vision from a couple of perspectives. First, we need to discuss why it is important as a building block for Christian leadership. Second, we need to address what it looks like in a Christian leader.

People Want A Big Vision

If you read much about employee engagement, you will find that compensation is not always the most important issue affecting job satisfaction among employees. In many cases, the desire to work for something that is bigger than themselves turns out to rank higher than compensation for employees.

People want to be a part of something. That is one reason the Olympic Games are so interesting to people in all walks of life. When they watch the events on TV, they feel a part of the team. Americans, regardless of economic status or job position, feel like they are a part of a national team. It is invigorating to most everyone and the vast majority are not participating in any way other than as spectators.

If you want to tap into this passion with those you are leading, then they need to know you are looking into the future. They need to know you are seeing a better picture ahead and showing them how they can be a part of this vision.

What Should Vision Look Like?

Assuming you want this, let’s take a look at what this should actually look like from a Christian perspective.

For a Christian leader, our vision for the future cannot simply include things like more money and a comfortable retirement. If this is all it is, then we are showing them nothing any different than what the world is showing them. This just cannot be.

Temporal And Eternal Vision

Instead, this vision, coming from a Christian leader, needs to extend into the future on two levels – both the temporal (this life) and the eternal (the life to come). If we can cast a vision of a better future on both levels, we will have people eager to follow we and hear what we have to say.

Just like Jesus did with those He ministered to, we do need to provide for their physical needs in our vision. We cannot expect to lead people with no consideration of their physical existence and the needs that go along with it. If we ignore their physical needs when we are casting our vision for the future, then we will end up walking alone.

Stretch Their Picture

The difference for the Christian leader is that we are not painting a picture for them that only includes their own needs. We are instead showing them a larger picture that includes the needs of those around them. We want to show them that they can be a part of improving the community in which they live. This community includes their coworkers, neighbors, etc.

Eternal Vision

At the same time we are casting the vision for a better life here and now, we should also be casting the vision for a better life to come. As Christian leaders, we should be leading them to consider their life beyond this life.

In July’s C12 segment, the author describes it this way:

We need to believe, in our own hearts, that this earthly life is one of struggle and that the good life awaits us in Heaven. We lead based on the eternal perspective.

If we can cast this dual vision in a compelling way, we will draw people to God. Again, we are not looking for the spotlight. Instead, we are looking to cast that spotlight on Him and give Him the glory for it all.

Do you have a vision for a better future?

If not, are you praying for God to reveal it to you?

If so, are you casting this vision on both levels?

Not A Good Time

As I mentioned in a recent post, a key, long-term member of our company’s leadership team (my inner circle) gave me their resignation. While there is never a good time for this to happen, this announcement came at a particularly bad time for me.

We are less than 60 days away from beginning a total renovation of our Honda dealership facility and this leader was to be one of the key drivers of this project. He was also a leader in ensuring the smooth transition into the temporary location from which we will operate during construction.

We are also just over six months into a new management team under his leadership. This leader has played a critical role in their development. Though the team has shown amazing progress during this six-month period, there is still a distance to go before this team truly realizes their full potential.

As I said, this is not a good time for him to leave.

Employee Development

At the same time, one of our company’s five core values is Employee Development. We describe this core value this way:

We strive to create an atmosphere that inspires and enables people to reach their full potential.

Moving People

In addition to this core value, our Vision statement is “Moving people.” We explain our vision by first pointing out the connection between “moving” and transportation – in our case, selling and servicing automobiles. But the true meaning of this vision applies to the people that come into contact with our business – the stakeholders. These people fall into three categories – employees, customers, and community.

We want anyone, from any of these three categories, that comes into contact with our company to be better off having done so. We want to help “move” them from one position into another, better position as a result of their interaction with us. We want every decision we make to reflect this vision.

Key Leader Resignation

Let’s go back to the leader that has now resigned. When he first told me, he generously offered to work a month’s notice. He was willing to help in the transition in any way I wanted. He explained how this new business opportunity was not one that he sought out, but was simply too good for him to ignore.

As he explained the opportunity, I quickly saw that he was right. I realized that I could never offer him the same chance to reach his full potential in our company as he could reach in this new job. I was disappointed in losing him, but I could not blame him for saying yes to the offer.

Living Out Core Values?

It was at this point that I had a choice. I could get angry and do what the majority of owners would do in our industry – tell him to pack his things and go ahead and exit immediately. I could cut off his compensation and benefits that very day and do only what I was legally bound to do.

OR, I could embrace our core value of Employee Development and our “Moving people” vision. I could congratulate him on his tremendous opportunity and begin laying out a plan that would maximize his effectiveness while he worked his notice, benefiting both of us in the process.

I chose the latter. In fact, I used the opportunity to reinforce our commitment to our core values by going to every department individually and explaining the whole situation. I tried to show, by example, that we are indeed serious about these core values and our vision.

The Results

The results? Well it has not been long enough yet to give a full report, but I can give you some of the immediate benefits…
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1. Other leaders have immediately stepped up to fill in the void caused by his departure

2. Employees have seen we are committed to our core values – “moving” them whether that means they are moving “up” in the company or “out!”

3. Our company’s relationship with this leader is fully intact and will bear fruit by maintaining an open line of communication in the immediate future in case we need help tying up loose ends (or accessing a lost password!).

4. We were able to have a going-away party to show him our appreciation for his contributions and to allow closure to those employees closest to him.

5. I believe his transition into a new job will be easier because we eliminated any stress that could have come from a messy separation.

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As I began listing these immediate benefits, I realized that there are longer-term benefits as well. Here is a short, not exhaustive, list of these benefits…

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6. The remaining leaders in the company will be stronger in the long term due to stepping up their game in the transition and beyond.

7. Other employees may realize we are serious about employee development and our other core values. Hopefully, they will work for similar opportunities in their own career. While some may move “out,” they will be better off having worked here. Still others will move “up” and make us a stronger company as a result.

8. Our ongoing relationship with the departing leader will bear fruit in many other forms as he will be working on cutting-edge ideas and processes in his new job. We will have the inside track access to what he is learning.

9. His future job performance will be better due to the ongoing relationship with our company. We will likely serve as testing grounds for some of his ideas and projects.

10. His personal relationships with some of the employees, hampered while here due to working relationship, will likely blossom without that hindrance.

11. I will maintain a friendship with him. I already look forward to hearing how his new job is going and how he is using the skills and talents God gave him to impact others.

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Have you had similar opportunities to live out your company’s core values?

What would you have done differently?

What benefits did I overlook?

From Our Newsletter

The following is an excerpt from Seth Godin’s blog:

No organization cares about you. Organizations aren’t capable of this. Your bank, certainly, doesn’t care. Neither does your HMO or even your car dealer. It’s amazing to me that people are surprised to discover this fact.

What are your thoughts at this point? Do you agree with what he says? Aren’t we part of a dealership “family” that cares about each other and our customers?

The truth is we are not!

The truth is (and Seth goes on to say this later in the blog) that only people care. Organizations, companies, and teams are incapable of caring, but the people that make up these groups are the ones that care.

Here is the difference…if you think and act like the groups are capable of caring, then you are actually attempting to relieve yourself of the responsibility for caring. If everyone else does the same thing, then no one cares.

If, on the other hand, every individual in the organization takes personal responsibility for caring, then it ends up looking like the entire organization cares.

It is in this kind of organization that we all prefer to work. It is this kind of organization that draws customers. It is this kind of organization of which we can be proud.

What about you? Do you care?

Encourage Thinking Outside of Job

This message is one of many that I send in an effort to get our employees thinking outside of just doing their job and going home everyday. I want them seeing the world around them and getting involved…engaged.

Mission and Vision

Our company’s mission is to honor God by impacting the lives of our employees, customers, and community. Our vision statement is “Moving people.” This plays on the transportation theme in our business, but carries a deeper meaning as well.

As people movers, we want to take other employees, customers, as we as those in the community, and “move” them from their current position or circumstances to a better one – whatever that looks like.

Employee Recognition

I also want them to feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves. Not only does this reduce the likelihood that they will leave to go to work somewhere else, but it also gives them fulfillment that we all so desperately need. A good way to do this is with employee recognition.

In addition to consistent communication through the employee newsletter and other methods, we created a couple of awards to reinforce this idea.

RPM Award

The first is called an RPM (Recognizing People Movers) award. This award recognizes anyone that has shown care for someone else by doing their job exceptionally well and going the extra mile. They are nominated by the other employees. We typically give out four to six of these awards in an average month. All of the award winners each month are put into a random drawing. We give the winner of the drawing a gift card for $100.

One example of a winner of an RPM award was a salesperson that responded quickly to a crisis with a customer. Something went wrong with a scheduled after-hours delivery of a new vehicle to the customer’s home and it did not happen. The problem was that the customer was an elderly lady that had to drive herself to the doctor the next morning. That new car was her only way to get there.

With little time to respond, this salesperson piled her family into the car and delivered the new car to the customer herself. This delivery was over two hours away and happened at 10pm…on her day off!

Lightning Strike

The second award is called a Lightning Strike. This award goes to someone that has shown extraordinary care for someone else. They have done this outside of the normal course of the job…often not even related to their job or our company at all. Each winner of this award gets a $100 gift card.

A notable Lightning Strike winner was a young member of our detail department. My brother received a call from a well-to-do older lady from his church. She asked about this employee by name. She wanted to know if he indeed worked for us. Sensing trouble, my brother answered that he did and then waited for the complaint.

Instead of complaining, she explained that she had been at McDonald’s earlier that morning, had placed her order, and went to pay. That was when she realized she had forgotten her wallet. As she stood there wondering what she was going to do, this employee stepped up and told her he would pay for her breakfast.

The kicker is that this position is an entry level position that is responsible for washing cars and therefore does not earn much money. Also, when the older lady asked the McDonald’s cashier if she knew our employee, she said she did not, but she did know that he had done that same thing on multiple occasions before!

On Track

These two forms of recognition are not all we do, but they do play a role in helping us to get our employees engaged in our mission and vision. As long as I keep hearing stories like these, I will feel we are on track!

Tell Them Again?

I told my wife that I loved her on my wedding day. Do I need to keep telling her after that? I told my children when they turned 10 years old that I expect them to participate in the household chores. Should I have to tell them again? I am sure you have your own examples of similar situations. This is especially true in a Christian business. The bottom line is that vision leaks!

Vision Leaks

Imagine that everybody in your company has a bucket and you have poured your vision for them into that bucket. The bucket is now full of your vision. That should be enough, right? There should be no need for further filling. You should be able to move on to the next idea, right?

Wrong. You see, those buckets leak! They leak vision from small holes in the bottom. They lose vision from people running around and spilling your vision wherever they go. Whether you like it or not, that one-time filling of their bucket is not enough. For them to keep enough vision in their buckets to stay on track, you are going to have to constantly refill and top off their buckets.

You may think that is unfair. You may think that is someone else’s job. You may even find your own bucket leaking and cannot see how you can possibly have enough to spare. Regardless, the filling must go on if the vision is to continue.

Vision Opposition in a Christian Business

This is especially true in a Christian business. Unfortunately, the vision of a Christian business is in direct opposition to normal business vision. While traditional businesses look at the monthly, quarterly, or even annual picture, the Christian business considers the eternal picture. While traditional business considers the benefit of the stockholders, a Christian business considers the benefit of everyone with whom it comes into contact. When your vision is so opposed to the normal mindset, it is even more prone to leak.

Prevent Empty Buckets

So let’s take a look at some ways to prevent empty buckets.

1. Acknowledge that vision leaks. If you do not first acknowledge that leakage is a problem, then you will never go any further to correct it.

2. Accept responsibility. If you do not accept responsibility for the maintaining the vision buckets, then no one will. If you cast the vision, you must maintain it.

3. Assess the leakage. Take the time to ask your leaders about their current grasp of the vision. Ask people on the front lines about their focus. It will likely become very clear fairly quickly where the vision levels currently stand. Keep in mind, this is not a one-time thing. Due to continuous leakage, this is an ongoing responsibility.

4. Overcommunicate the vision. Use various methods to do this, but do it. Tailor your message to the audience you are addressing. You should use different language and examples when talking to your top leadership versus your entry level employees. At the same time, maintain high expectations for both. Here are some examples of some ways to communicate your vision.

• Regular articles in the company newsletter
• Monthly devotions to all employees with vision topics
• Monthly lunch & learn meetings with Bible based videos
• Targeted messages at company gatherings
• Vision-based recognition awards

5. Recognize “Heroes” of the vision. Catch employees doing things that fit the vision and publicly praise them for it. Give them a small token gift or reward for their actions. Encourage others to follow their example!

6. Spread the vision DNA. This is especially more critical as your company grows beyond a handful of employees. As growth happens, you cannot be in enough places at once to maintain the vision on your own. You must appoint DNA carriers to help you spread it. These are people that are completely bought in to your vision and can teach it to others. Charge them with helping you keep the buckets full. However, keep in mind that DNA carriers still have leaky buckets as well!

7. Keep your own bucket full. While you are likely the person carrying the bucket with the fewest leaks, you cannot assume your bucket will always stay full. You must schedule time alone on a regular basis for the purpose of refilling your own bucket. From daily quiet times to quarterly retreats, there are various ways to accomplish this. Whatever your method, just make sure you do it!

How do you keep the vision buckets full in your company?

When is the last time you refilled your own bucket?

What action step should you take right now to strengthen your company’s vision?