(Time to read this Blog is about 2.5 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “Are you running your business or department…or are you building a Team that runs it?  Those two are very different.” 
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Today’s young people will change jobs, on average, every 2 years.
   – What are you doing to onboard, train and empower new team members effectively so they can be productive ASAP?
   – What are you doing to make it worthwhile for the really good ones to stay with you longer? How can you assign them to new responsibilities, so they change ‘jobs’…but stay with you?
   – When they do leave, don’t take it personally. It’s just how they’re wired.
    
3. Quick Biz Tip:  Check out your staff facilities and amenities:
     
   Employers love to talk about how well they treat their staff so, whenever I visit a client’s office, factory, warehouse or retail location, I ask to see the staff washrooms, lunchroom, or staff lounge.  I check out what kind of chairs they’re given in their work space or, if they have to stand for long periods in one place, do they have cushioned floor mats to stand on.  How is the temperature, air quality and lighting?  This stuff tells me the truth about how highly the company values their Team.  Actions speak louder than words! 
     
   Check out your own business or department. Do the ‘tour’ that I do. What do you see?  Would you be proud to have your customers see the facilities that you provide for your team? What needs fixing or improving…and when will you start?
    
4. Speaking of being thoughtful to your team members…
    
   A regional supermarket in Texas releases work schedules to their front-line staff 2 weeks ahead so they can plan their lives and personal commitments.  So, what small things can you do to make life and work easier for your team?  Here’s a hint…ask them.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

What does ‘Angel’ look like in your business?

According to legend, back in the  early 1500s, someone asked painter and sculptor, Michelangelo, “How do you take a huge block of stone and carve from that a magnificent angel?” According to this legend, Michelangelo replied, “It’s really quite simple.  I just chip away everything that isn’t angel.”  But I think it’s actually not that simple.  First of all, he had to have a clear vision as to what his angel would look like.

Apparently, Michelangelo would sometimes get behind in his delivery of angels and his clients, the Pope and the Medici family, were unforgiving about ‘backorders’.  So, he often had to ask fellow artists to help him complete his angels.  But no matter how talented, capable, passionate and keen his friends were, what did he first have to clearly communicate to them, before he could let them pick up tools and work on his angel?  He had to clearly communicate his vision of angel.  “Making the left ear larger than the right ear might be a strong ‘progressive’ political statement, but it’s not my vision of angel.”   “A nose on the right buttock might be funky…but it’s not my vision of angel.”   You get the idea. He had to communicate his vision of angel before he could let them help.

But, in business, we often recruit talented people to join our company to help us delight customers, improve our processes, design or produce products or services, etc.  But, so often, we just turn them loose without clearly communicating our vision for the business, our values, our commitments to customers, to each other, to the bottom line, to the community and the planet.  Then, we wonder why our ‘angel’ gets all bent out of shape.

So, what does ‘angel’ look like in your business?  Are you even clear about that yourself?  Clarity starts with you.  Then, have you communicated clearly to everyone on the team what the vision is and what the commitments are?  This is what effective onboarding and ongoing leadership are all about.  And, then, every day are you and your team chipping away something that isn’t ‘angel’?.        

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.