Select Your Crew, Get Rid of Mutineers, and Harness Everyone's Strengths

It is so tempting.

You arrive as a new supervisor or manager in a department or division.  And the first thing you want to do is to "change things" and make your mark and make a difference.

You learn the business, you go see some customers, you design some new programs and "ways of doing things," and within 30-90 days, you LAUNCH your new plan.

And in 90 more days, you haven't reached your goals and the results are not that much different.

Why?  Because you started with tactics, programs, and measures.  You didn't start with the people.

Jim Collins said it better than anyone in Good to Great.  First, you:

1. Get the right people on the bus
2. Get the wrong people off the bus
3. And get the right people in the right seats

But assessing, working with, and adding or eliminating people take up valuable time, right?  Yup, sure does.  "I'll figure out the people part later, but for now--I've got to change somethings and satisfy my boss!"

In extreme cases, you have to step aboard and make immediate changes.  Like the ship's First Mate who takes over for a Captain wounded in battle.  If he doesn't put out the fires, plug the leaks, and grab the wheel with both hands--the entire ship and crew are in trouble.

But unless your ship is on fire and leaking water, you need to first CAREFULLY select your crew, and in particular--the leaders of that crew.  You need to remove the mutineers and leave them on shore.  And then you need to see to it that everyone on the ship is doing the job they were born to do--which might not necessarily be the job they're in now.

When the crew is right, only then can you chart your course, raise the sail, and head North with the confidence that you are all a team committed to one thing: the destination.

What Do You Value?

I think most lists of company values are crap.

Yes, I said "crap."  Why?  Because, in my opinion--the lists are contrived from a random list of values that the leaders think "sound good" or would be good for the organization.

If you want to dig deep on this, spend 3 minutes at Jim Collins' site to listen and learn about the absolute #1 best way in the world to select your company values:  Examine your best employees and what makes them special--and take their list of collective values and attach them to your company.

I've used Collins' technique and can tell you it works…very well.

On Purpose

Mission and values….yes.  But purpose?  What is a company's "purpose statement?"

Verne Harnish (author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits) puts it this way.  "Values are the rules of the organization.  Purpose is the heart."

Questions to get at your purpose:

"Why are we doing what we are doing?"

"What is the reason we are in the business we are in?"

"What is our Passion for the business we're in?"

"What's our Higher Reason for being in this specific business?"


When you've developed your purpose statement, it breathes life into why you're here. And whether you're a company of 10,000 or a company of 1, it is always better to be "on purpose."

Vision and Mission Statements: Fluff or Critical?

I've sensed that quite a few managers and leaders think vision and missions statements are "fluffy' nice to haves.  Quite the opposite. They are essential...AFTER you've got your blocking and tackling down pat.


I am always stunned when I read about the courage Lou Gerstner demonstrated at his first press conference after taking over at IBM--when he offered NO vision statement.

In his book Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Gerstner said to a press conference in July 1993, after his first 100 days, ‘There’s been a  lot of speculation as to when I’m going to deliver a vision of IBM, and what I’d like to say to all of you is that the last thing IBM needs right now is a vision [. . . ] What IBM needs right now is a series of very tough-minded, market driven, highly effective strategies for each of its businesses – strategies that deliver performance in the marketplace and shareholder value.'


Gerstner eventually gave IBM it's vision, but not after getting the boat upright in the water, heading "north" under full sail, and making profits.


So, will a vision help do the above?  Most likely not.  You have got to run and manage a viable business first.


But then you must develop a vision (where you want to go) and mission (why your company exists).  Once created (with a great deal of care and thought), the statements are organizing principles around which all employees will operate.  The statements should be some clear and focused--that everyone from the janitor to the CEO can understand them, and what their individual role is in accomplishing them.


Meaningful, well-crafted vision and mission statements are essential to organizing employees around the goals of the company--and helping decision points along the way.


Create them, communicate them, and use them.