The Bottom Line by Sharon Fountain

I was born into an entrepreneurial family. My memory is filled with positive and negative episodes of our business in its last few years. Even as a child, I understood that companies must change or die!

Today, as a behavioral scientist and entrepreneur who has enjoyed great success as a business consultant, I have learned many lessons about what makes organizations thrive. And although I cannot use my learning to rewrite the past and save my family's business, I call upon this experience to keep organizations alive and kicking today.

My great-grandfather was an Irish immigrant who founded a furniture company in the midwest around the turn of the century. It was a successful business which grew from one store to four. He made a lot of money, and enjoyed being a person whose name was widely known. He sponsored radio programs employing Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans for a time, socialized with celebrities, and Pat and Dizzy Dean were his good friends—and my godparents. He was one of the people Colonel Parker approached while seeking financing backing for the rock-and-roll newcomer, Elvis Presley.

In spite of his great success, by the time I was a teenager the business had closed its doors. Why? He trusted only himself and could not let go of control. As business conditions demanded change, he clung to the "old ways" and could not adapt. He did not know how to set a vision, articulate values, hire capable people whom he could trust, set them up for success, and let them fly. He did not understand the bottom line: People.

The most successful businesses in the United States and abroad are those whose CEOs recognize the importance of their people. These CEOs understand that the diligence, dedication, and desire of their people is what leads their companies to reap the greatest profits from the marketplace.

Profits are directly linked to organizational effectiveness, which is directly linked to individual competence. CEOs who capitalize on this link between people and profits know that empowered people make money for their companies.

Powerful, competent people are willing to make decisions and take risks. We take responsibility for our results and understand our contributions to the "whole." We recognize and affirm others' achievements and self-esteem. We become more competent ourselves while aiding others' development. We value the knowledge that "wins" are greater through collective effort. We help our companies shift as business conditions demand. We help our companies succeed.

Here is a summary of six basic principles, or pathways to success my experience has taught me—points I would gladly share with my great-grandfather if he were alive today, as I share them with you.

Six Pathways to Success

1. Growth Demands Change

Growth does demand change, but that does not make it easy. When we encounter personal change, we often experience it first as loss—a divorce, our child moves from home, graduates or married, a loved-one dies. We allow ourselves to grieve. Things will never be the same again. Even if the change is positive we still need time to adjust.

Similarly, organizational change is often experienced by those in the company as loss. CEOs and top managers adjust to changes in the marketplace more quickly and easily than employees, so it can be frustrated to lead the way.

Adjusting to profound change requires a period of grieving—a letting go of what was and a moving toward what will be. People often get stuck in the murky middle ground. It takes time to make this shift. Employees benefit by having a sanctioned period of time to feel the loss of what they once knew as they move on to the new reality. The best leaders provide this time, and in the end, lead their people and companies through the process more quickly and easily than leaders who merely say "This is the way things will be from now on." This ability to quickly transform the organization to meet new conditions is one of the greatest barometers of success in the marketplace today.

2. To Get More Power, Give Some Away

Empowering others leads to increased power and control of ourselves. The more we surround ourselves with people who are capable of making good decisions, taking risks and being accountable, the more we can achieve. Power is not a scarce resource.

In my great-grandfather's day power was closely held and guarded by a select few. His employees, while most loyal, were afraid to take risks or make mistakes for fear of personal consequences. Some were initially willing to share ideas and make suggestions. But after a while, many stopped trying and moved into rebellious compliances: "Okay, I'll do what you tell me—no more, no less. And when it fails, I'll be safe because that's what you told me to do."

3. High Self-esteem Means Freedom to Achieve

Ken Blanchard once said when people do good work, they feel good about themselves. Similarly, when people feel good about themselves, their ability to achieve soar.

Self-esteem is closely linked to self-confidence. With high self-esteem we are free to operate from win/win, confident that results are not a reflection of self-worth but of achievement. Win/win as a process allows us to focus on the task at hand, instead of on power, control or turf.

The best leaders of today understand that they way people are treated affects how they perform. When treated with respect as individuals they carry their good personal feelings into their work efforts, often accomplishing things not previously believed possible. When problems and challenges arise they focus on the issues. They are able to separate how they feel about difficult situations from actions they can take. High self-esteem frees people to take risks, use their potential, and be stake-holders in results, while saying "whole" in the process.

4. Feedback Nurtures Competence

Knowing how we are doing is essential to achievement. Professional and amateur athletes videotape and critique their performance regularly. They sit down with their coaches to plan strategies for improvement as a part of their normal routine. Leaders and employees alike can respond to the challenge of change by learning to ask for and give consistent, appropriate feedback. When feedback is missing or inappropriate, results suffer. As my colleague, Charles Seashore once said, "When I don't know which track the train is coming in on, my behavior on the platform gets a little weird." When people know how to evaluate and strengthen their results everybody wins.

many of us hesitate to offer or ask for feedback—we do not want to evaluate or be evaluated in a damaging way. Asking for feedback is a powerful act! We we know how to ask for and offer it appropriately, feedback is a golden key unlocking competence and potential. It is not helpful to frame questions in absolute terms (i.e., What did I do right? or What did I do wrong?). These questions inveite judgmental, evaluative responses. Instead, focus attention on results and future strategy by asking: What works? What doesn't work? What do I need to do more of? Less of? What helps? What hinders? Answers to questions framed in this way develop competence and focus on goals, results and strategies for constructive change.

5. People Need Recognition

Picture the Olympic Games with no media coverage. The athletes would still compete, but few would be there to share in the excitement of their achievements. How much sweeter is the taste of success when shared with others! It provides a moment for the person or team to bask in the sunbeam of accomplishment. Rare is the person who does not need recognition to bolster his confidence and give health and new life to his spirit. That recognition will be absorbed, internalized and used again and again to light the way to even greater success.

Studies conducted on the subject of motivation usually cite recognition as one of the greatest motivational tools available.

One of the mist common reasons given for people wishing to leave their current job is insufficient or nonexistent recognition, the belief that no one acknowledge their work unless they make a mistake.

What people need, above all, is recognition of their efforts on behalf of the company. This recognition can be concrete or intrinsic. The specific type does not matter as much as the result—inspiring, or reminding a person of his achievements and motivating him for future achievements. Thinks about the cost of losing key people. Recruiting, hiring and training new employees costs American business billions of dollars each year. If I were to come to your company next week, what would your employees tell me about the recognition they receive!

6. Teams Are Stronger Than Individuals

Imagine a football team using only its quarterback, or an orchestra with only its first violinist. While the solo performance is an exciting aspect of life, think of how limited our lives would ne without the contributions of others. None of us can accomplish grand goals by ourselves. We need the assistance of numerous people along the way—those who share their ideas and contribute their effort.

Entrepreneurs have many strengths which serve us well. We achieve much by virtue of our own energy, stamina and drive. These same strengths can trigger the downfall of our companies if we lose sight of the fact that we can achieve far, far more when we capitalize on and develop the great potential of teams.

A team does not just happen. it is something which must be developed, requiring clear direction and support from the top. Just as athletic teams need their coaches, so developing organizational teams need their champions to initiate and support the team building process with energy and vision.

Team building is an ongoing process, not something that can be accomplished on one day. It demands a commitment of time, effort and resources. Think of it as preventive maintenance. Airplanes require constant preventive maintenance to assure they will consistently arrive at their destination with passengers and cargo intact. Similarly, a high performing team need ongoing preventive maintenance. Without enlightened and intentional maintenance, teams can find themselves in a crash and burn trajectory. Relationships can sour, and irreparable damage can occur. And of course, productivity declines despite frantic attempts to revive it! It is the old story of too little, too late. My great-grandfather lived out his life in the midst of that story, but he did no understand the story, did not get the message, and would not have responde to it even if he had gotten it. He thought the bottom line was profits, not people!

It Starts At the Top

When I walk into a company where people are not considered important, I can feel it... it is palpable. What I can see and feel is individual who are worn out, people who are moving toward mediocrity because their ideas have bee ignored so often. People who are just putting in time on the job and, worst of all, people who feel that their energy and ideas do not matter.

But when I walk into a people-oriented company I can feel it in the air. I can almost touch it in the atmosphere. The air sings with it. I know what the top person knows about it and is following these pathways to success. The more positive the organization the more positioned they are to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.

It starts at the top, but the bottom line is always people.