One of my early mentors when I first got into personal development used to say: Passion Fires Up The Committed. And It Fries The Uncommitted.
I have seen this play out in my own business over the years and I see it come up in conversation with members. Staff issues is one of the biggest issues that I help members with, and rightly so, because it is one of the biggest responsibilities we have as business owners.
Ask Manchester United’s manager ETH what his biggest challenge is and I’m sure he’d tell you it’s trying to get the best out of his players, to get them to use their individual strengths and talents to help the team, to actually think and act and play like one team, and to strive for greater consistency and greater results.
To have any hope of doing this there must be passion and it must come from the top. Passion is what fires you up. But just know that it will fry the uncommitted. And make your peace with that because you have no other choice.
As the leader of your business, you have the ultimate responsibility of setting the culture for your practice and exuding your core values, no matter what, for everyone to see. Your core values and your passion are needed most for the thorny issues and hardest decisions. You can’t let your standards slip. Make them non-negotiable.
If you have a team member who isn’t really committed to your core values, then you try to help them see the light and get with the program, but if they don’t you need to be committed to your core values. If you have to choose between keeping a team member happy or violating your core values, then you really don’t have a choice. You must pick your core values every time. Violating your core values never ends well and it will always come back to bite you on the ass sooner or later.
Yes I know it’s hard to do what we all do. To do great work in any field is hard. So what? It’s a privilege and a pleasure to get the opportunity to do meaningful work. It’s also fun and fulfilling for the ones who are committed.
You need to keep passion alive in your practice. That means weekly team meetings, daily huddles, inspiration from wherever you can get it, celebrating the wins, dissecting the successes and bright spots and not just dwelling on the problems.
I had to literally pause and rewind one member recently when he nonchalantly mentioned in an update that they did £18,000 in two days at a small sunglasses event they held. These successes need to be dissected and celebrated, not glanced over. I advised him to have a team meeting with the agenda item; “Oh my God, what the hell just happened? That was amazing? How did we do that? What exactly happened? Who bought? Why? What can we learn? How does this shape our beliefs? What did we do right so we can do it some more?!”
Your successes need as much attention given to them as your problems. This is part of creating a culture that helps everyone thrive!