What Makes a Positive Difference?

   LaserDay is a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization as an excellent example of how strong, positive organizational culture works as a performance booster.  The team’s coach, Mike Tomlin, is an individual from that organization that also serves as an excellent role model of performance management leadership.

   Little things—that little extra—set Mike Tomlin apart from the ordinary and make him extra-ordinary.  Take his immediate post-SuperBowl game performance:  His team had just lost the game, but Tomlin stood at the entrance to the locker-room and shook the hand of every single player and thanked them individually for their effort.  When asked about it, Tomlin answered simply:  “It wasn’t a big deal; I do it after every game.”

Tomlin is only 37 years old and the last season was only his 4^th as coach.  In that time he has won one and lost one SuperBowl.  When asked if he was meeting the expectations he had when becoming coach he once again replied simply:  “It’s probably about two SuperBowls too short of my vision.”

   Tomlin expects to win and expects his players to be self-motivated to win as well.  "He doesn't give you that win-one-for-the-Gipper-type speech," says Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "He lets us motivate ourselves."  For example, Tomlin scribbled a note and put it on Roethlisberger’s locker.  It said:  “Terry Bradshaw: 4.  Joe Montana: 4. Where do you want to fit it?”

   Tomlin’s coaching and leadership strategy comes from his mentor, Coach Tony Dungy, who gave Tomlin his first coaching opportunity in the NFL.  “Dungy tries to lead through service, and I do the same,” said Tomlin recently. “I learned that from him in providing the men what they need to be great. Every day when I go to work, I don’t think about things I have to do, I think about the things I can do to make my men successful. So I have a servant’s mentality in terms of how I approach my job, and I get that from Coach Dungy.” 

   Does servant leadership guarantee you win every game?  “No, of course not,” says Tomlin, “but it does make a positive difference?”

  Tomlin has had to put that philosophy to use with the Steelers throughout the season, imploring backup players to step in and perform, and young players to grow up and contribute. “If you have a helmet on, you’re a guy who is capable of making deciding plays,” Tomlin said. “We don’t grade on a curve. If I give any of these guys a helmet on Sunday, I expect them to potentially put themselves in position to be the reason why they win. I think there is not a man in our locker room who doesn’t embrace that. We’re not interested in style points.” 

We have a lot of leaders in LaserShip: Regional Managers, General Managers, Operations Managers and Project Managers, but the lessons of Mike Tomlin apply to just about everyone—as Tomlin defines it: “if you have a helmet on I expect you be in a position to be the reason why we win.”   Tomlin’s philosophy is that we are all in a position to give people what they need be successful, to provide the means for others to self-motivate themselves, and to be, collectively, winners by building on each other’s strengths.  These lessons do not guarantee success but they make a positive difference.  

Understanding Our Values

  LaserShip has grown at such a dramatic pace over the last few years: We are processing millions (no longer thousands) of product deliveries through a network of far flung operations with many new employees.  

  It is therefore vital that everyone understands—or at least has a feeling for—who we are as a company, as an organization:  Where we came from, what is we believe in and what we are working toward.

   Core Connectivity is this process of reaching out to everyone—to connect everyone at LaserShip to our core. 

  At the core of LaserShip’s culture is our values; those things that define who we are, what we believe in, why we make the choices that we do. 

  Our organizational culture was formed early on as a reflection of the founder's beliefs. What was important to the founders of the company became important to the first generation of employees and managers and the next, and the next until those values became entwined as the corporate culture.

   The risk of any growing organization is to lose touch with its founding principles.  But, we cannot afford to lose touch with what made us successful, competitive and enduring. 

  In the beginning, the fundamental values were a set of shared beliefs:

   

v    

v

Work together

v     All hands on deck

v     Do whatever it takes to get the job done

v     Keep relationships alive

v     Trust each other

v     Do what feels right in your heart

v     Reward performance 

v   Teach the next person in line 

v  Take care of those around you
v  Give your all each day
v  Make it better tomorrow
v  Be passionate about what you 
v  Show the world your good side

 

   Eventually, these shared beliefs made their way into five value statements or focuses of the business:

1.      CUSTOMER FOCUS—driven to create satisfied, long-term customers through superior service.

2.      EMPLOYEE FOCUS—driven to recognize, reward and respect the contribution of our people.

3.      ETHICAL FOCUS—driven to demonstrate integrity to customers and employees through honesty and fairness.

4.      QUALITY FOCUS— driven to constantly improve our performance.

5.      IMAGE FOCUS—driven to conduct our selves in a professional manner.

Going Greener Step By Step

As a delivery company, we’re passionate about the environment and reducing our carbon footprint. So this week we’re pleased to announce a new eco-sensitive initiative that will further reduce our use of paper. 

From the beginning of March, LaserShip is no longer printing paychecks and paystubs. Instead, employees will be able to access their payroll information online through a secure website. It’s one more step towards helping our planet.

LaserShip – Ship Clean, Ship Green!

McDonald’s, Best Buy and LaserShip

Learning from other organizations how to survive and prosper

    "Change is a part of our business, to keep up with customer demands, and there have been a lot of changes.”  This could be a quote from any number of LaserShip people, but it is not.  It is a quote from a McDonald’s franchise owner in Georgia. 

   From LaserShip to McDonald’s, and to Best Buy and the federal government, the one common theme today is for organizations—and the people who inhabit them—must be flexible and able to adapt quickly to their changing environment.   

McDonald’s

   Though the name McDonald's is synonymous with burgers, the chain's ability to adapt to changing customer needs has helped make it the nation's best-performing restaurant company even through the recent economic downturn.

   Even though the company has had to make many changes menu-wise to stay relevant, McDonald’s—which is operated largely through franchises—has had to stay true to its core ingredients. "Our business is driven by keeping things simple and being able to deliver in a fast and efficient manner," said one McDonald's franchisee.  “The more complexity you bring into the system, the more challenges you'll have," he says.

   Change with stability seems to be the appropriate term to describe McDonald’s.  Franchisees want to keep things simple in order to keep labor costs down and profits up, yet the company needs to be constantly changing to stay in tune with their customers.  "I don't want it to feel burdensome to add new menu items, but we have to stay relevant,” said the President of McDonald’s USA. 

   "It's a delicate balance between being simple and not responding to what consumers want,” said a restaurant industry analyst.  If McDonald's sticks to just dong or offering one thing, consumers will go somewhere else.”

Best Buy

   Going somewhere else is exactly the lesson Best Buy learned.  The largest name in electronic sales heard from customers and had to change.  For years the retailer charged a 15% restocking fee on returns—annoying customers to the point that blog and Twitter comments about Best Buy impacted sales negatively.  Chastened by complaints Best Buy rescinded most restocking fees. 

  “What it really boiled down to is this: Our customers were telling us they wanted Best Buy to make it easier," said a Best Buy spokesperson.  "If we want to be the best technology destination we have to listen to our customers and that is what we did."

The National Transportation Safety Board

   While government agencies are not usually an example of forward-looking, customer-conscious, change-oriented organizations, is seeking a role in identifying aviation hazards before they can cause crashes. 

   “We need to change to remain relevant,” said the new head of the board.  “As the industry evolves, the safety board has to evolve, too," she said. "We can't be static."   Government agencies, in general, are not very good at being dynamic and nimble," she said last week. 

LaserShip

   The lessons for LaserShip from other organizations are that change is part of our business; to remain relevant we must listen to our customers and adapt to the needs of the marketplace.  If not, customers will go someplace else.  Being a dynamic and nimble company is not always easy—it requires a committed and connected family of people who listen to the customers and provide feedback throughout the organization on what our customers are thinking and needing. 

   It also requires a group of people who are willing to learn, to be flexible, to adapt to the changing business environment:  To take on the new challenges while remaining true to who we are as a company—change with stability.  Taking care of customers, improving our performance, demonstrating integrity to all and providing opportunities to those who are willing are some of the core values that we must carry forward at we and the business environment evolve. 

The Lessons of the Wolves

The attitude of the wolf can be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success; Focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals

  One of the easiest things you can do to bring more success to your life in any area is to visualize it.  High performing athletes do it…and so do wolves.                                                                                                                                                      

   The attitude of the wolf can best be summed up simply: it is a constant visualization of success. The collective wisdom of wolves has been progressively programmed into their genetic makeup throughout the centuries. Wolves have mastered the technique of focusing their energies toward the activities that will lead to the accomplishment of their goals.

   Wolves do not aimlessly run around their intended victims, yipping and yapping. They have a strategic plan and execute it through constant communication. When the moment of truth arrives, each member of the wolf pack understands his role and understands exactly what the pack expects of him.

   Wolves are extremely efficient, persistent and skilled pursuers of goals, able to size up a challenge quickly and develop a realistic plan for achieving their goals.

   Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf's expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf's attitude is always that success will come-and it does.

   Wolves are seldom truly threatened by other animals. By constantly engaging their senses and skills, they are practically unassailable. They are masters of planning for the moment of opportunity to present itself, and when it does, they are ready to act.

   The wolf does not depend on luck. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.

  Wolves, although they run in a pack, are actually one of nature's best examples of individual excellence contributing to team strength.  Successful "pack leaders” build strong groups around the strengths of the individual members; every wolf does not strive to be the leader in the pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or even jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. This is not to say there are not challenges to authority, position and status - there are. But each wolf's role begins emerging from playtime as a pup and refines itself through the rest of its years. The wolf's attitude is always based upon the question, "What is best for the pack?"

   Wolves are renowned for their ability to stay on track, whether in search of food or shelter. Instinctively, they know that distractions could doom their survival.

   Wolves are actually one of nature's best examples of individual excellence contributing to team strength. By nature they are team oriented with a strong sense of pack loyalty and the ability to communicate through multiple modes.  Working together wolves focus all their energies toward the activities that will produce the results for both the individual and the group.

The Lessons of the Geese

Flying in perfect formation, cooperating as a team, unified behind experienced leadership, constantly encouraging and helping others

  If we share a common direction and a sense of unity, we can get where we are going more quickly and easily because we are traveling, so to speak, on the thrust of one another.  This is the first great lesson from geese.  As geese flap their wings, they create uplift for the bird following.  In addition to uplift, by flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if any bird were to fly alone.

 

   The uplift and forward formation momentum of the flock is reinforced among individual geese: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front.   If we can learn anything from geese, it is to stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go, and be willing to accept help from others as well as give ours to others.  Going it alone—being independent of the flock—leads to falling behind.

    When we take turns doing the hard tasks and encouraging everyone on the team we are also following the lead of the geese.  Whenever the lead goose in the V formation gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position. All the other geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. All of this creates a positive interdependence with the geese…as well as with our teams.  It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks. We should respect and protect each other's unique arrangement of skills, capabilities, talents and resources. In addition, we need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In teams where there is encouragement, productivity and results are much greater. Individual empowerment results from quality honking!

   When we display our team loyalty and stand by each other in difficult times, as well as when we are strong, we are once again following the example of the geese.  When a goose, for example, gets sick or wounded or is shot down, two geese always drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. They then launch out on their own, with another formation or catch up with the flock.   It is important for our team members to not just fly in formation but to also be award of how everyone else is performing:  Let us all try to fly in formation and remember to drop back to help those who might need it.

THE POWER OF TEAMWORK

   The greatest accomplishments in life are not achieved by individuals alone, but by proactive people pulling together for a common good. Look behind every winner and you will find a great coach or a positive role model. Look alongside every great achiever and you will find people offering encouragement, support and able assistance.

   Rising to the level of interdependent thinking can be challenging and difficult. Looking beyond one self, seeing your self as part of something larger, asking for and accepting help or giving help can feel risky. But people are not given life to simply take from one another. Our mission in life is to offer our gifts to benefit one another, to create mutual gain in the world. This is called teamwork, a win/win mindset stemming from a genuine commitment to the rules that allow it to happen.

  Everyone should take a moment to think of our organization and the teams in which they participate, and ask if those teams measure up to the lessons of the geese: Flying in perfect formation, cooperating as a team, unified behind experienced leadership, constantly encouraging and helping others

The Pittsburgh Steelers, Organizational Culture and LaserShip

Link between culture and performance is plain and proven

   The Steelers are the most successful franchise in professional football history with seven Super Bowl appearances.  With six Super Bowl trophies, the most of any team in the National Football League, the Pittsburgh Steelers have proven what it takes to win consistently and passionately as a widely admired, world class organization.

  The winning nature of the team has been attributed to the “Steeler Way” of doing things:  Play hard, play physical and play fair.    

  The culture of the Steelers organization trickles down from the owners, the Rooney family.  Yet, the Steelers culture used to be one of losers—and had to change.  40 years ago, Dan Rooney took over from his father Art, and started to change the team.  Even though the Steelers are the oldest club in their conference, started in 1933, their first Super Bowl appearance and win did not happen until 1974.  Prior to that it was all right to lose; it was all right to be the butt of jokes; it was all right to mail it on Sundays. That culture, Dan Rooney was determined to change—and it did.  Since then, the Steelers have been the NFL model for consistency on many different levels, the most important of which is coaching with only three head coaches in the last four decades.

   The franchise’s approach to football emphasizes coaching stability, character, fundamentals, hard work, loyalty, sensible business practices and putting what’s best for the team ahead of the interests of individuals.  It is a very simple blueprint based on ethics, dedication, selflessness and an overwhelming desire to be the best.

   The Steeler Way seems so simple; one wonders why every team doesn't copy it: Practicing well means playing well. Be unselfish. No small, divisive cliques among teammates. Character—being counted on to do the right thing at the right time—counts.  

  Organizational Culture
   If you cannot define it, you recognize a company’s culture when we see it.  Organizational culture was first defined as “the way we do things around here.”  Later it was dressed up to mean the shared basic assumptions that during problem solving have worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

     As with the Steelers, the link between culture and performance is discernable and proven.  A healthy culture is a positive influence—absolutely necessary in preserving and growing a company.

   LaserShip

    Organizational culture exists in LaserShip.  Just looking around, anyone of us can see the “LaserWay;” there is evidence of it every day in the willingness of people to work together on a deadline, and the dogged commitment to provide the best overall solution to customers. 

    For 25 years we have emphasized stability in customers and employees and loyalty to those who made us who we are.  In addition, LaserShip has adhered to the fundamental premise that honesty and hard work will produce results, as well as the belief in the twin goals of growth and improvement.    

    As with the Steelers, it is a very simple blueprint based on values, consistency, commitment, teamwork, and an overwhelming desire to be the best.