Getting to great requires great people

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman is an independent consultant with her company, Fort Smith-based Msaada Group. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.

“Get on the Bus Gus, don’t need to discuss much / Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free … “

Sage words from Simon and Garfunkel that apply to relationships of all forms (especially in business). It is no secret that starting, running and owning a business is anything but roses, and it is especially difficult when you have to maintain and manage a staff.

In Jim Collin’s classic business book, “Good to Great,” Collins uses his study of what made some business great and others just good to pinpoint key characteristics of a company that will just survive versus the companies that thrive.

Collins examines companies like Walgreens, Abbot Laboratories and Kimberly-Clark to showcase the core leadership characteristics at the bow of each company that are considered “great.” In hindsight, the book also shows how a “great” company can fall like Goliath (such as Circuit City and Fannie Mae).

One key area that Collins looks at in his book is staff. First the leader and surrounding leadership is reviewed, then he examines the different types of employees throughout the companies.

“During the transformation from good to great, rather than concern themselves first with ‘what’ – products, direction, strategy – the companies studied ensured they had the right people ‘on the bus’ before anything else.”

In other words, is the right leader in place? Does the person leading the entire organization have the experience, humility, compassion and passion to make the decisions necessary that could make or break the company? Does that leader understand the organization, industry, industry sector and related channels? Is the leadership humble enough to admit their mistakes, listen to their advisors and trust those on the management team?

If you are an entrepreneur running a smaller company, can you answer the leadership questions about yourself? Additionally, you need to ask what you are missing (or neglecting) within your business? More easily, look at what frustrates you the most with your business, and pay attention to the message that frustration is trying to tell you.

Once the leadership in a business is in place, the true challenge begins. Starting at the top, are the leadership members around you on board with the direction you seek to take the organization? Do you even have the right people in the right positions so they can perform their best within their jobs? Do some employees need to be shifted around until they find their best fit?

Business leaders need to take an honest assessment of their staff to ensure the ‘bench’ is filled with the right people to accomplish the right goals for the business.

If it looks like some employees are not willing or fitting on the “bus,” then leadership needs to let the employee go. Not to sound harsh, but the employee who is not on the “bus” will not fit well within the company regardless of the job they have. That person and the business are not a match, and it is in the best interest for both parties to part ways. The person will be given the opportunity to find the job/business that will fulfill their needs, while the business can move forward as planned.

Staff members who do not fit well with the company will cause more damage to the business than a head-on collision with a semi-truck. I have witnessed how one employee with a bad attitude affects the entire staff of a small business. Unless the business acts quickly, that person can affect the business bottom line for as long as you have staff that worked with that person still employed within your organization.

Likewise, I have watched another company in my circles run for too many years with ineffective leadership. When called for leadership to take responsibility for the current state of business (which was failing), that business leader simply passed the buck on responsibility. Sadly this is a common path some leaders take, which will guarantee that the staff of that organization will not work to their fullest potential. Why would they, if the leadership of that organization will not step onto the bus either?

Being a business leader begins within the person and it should naturally project onto the others working within the business. Whether the janitor, accountant or cashier, every employee needs reason to buy into your vision, but you are the only one that can sell vision to your staff. You are the bus driver; now lead them to the destination.

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Stockman can be reached at [email protected]