Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM AUGUST 2018 44 A few years ago, my friend Lisa Earle McLeod and I shared a TEDx stage. I talked about "owning your voice" as a leader, and she talked about "noble purpose." I love her tag line: "Do you have a noble purpose . . . or do you just sell stuff?" Lisa's research, outlined in Selling with Noble Purpose and Leading with Noble Purpose, shows that companies that have a purpose-driven culture out-perform their competition by 30%. It's not just a nice-to-have, flavor-of-the-month concept: purpose matters. Dan Pink's book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, is still one of my favorite books to share with my clients because his research shows the three biggest motivators that drive individuals in their performance and engagement are autonomy, mastery, and purpose. When I work with clients to help them create intentional (rather than accidental) workplace cultures, we like to look at what works and what doesn't, what matters and what's simply a distraction. A beautiful culture is not out of the question. A beautiful culture isn't about interior design (though I'm definitely in support of lovely workplace environments). A beautiful culture isn't industry-driven. Frankly, I think the guys at Pike Place Fish (at the Seattle market where they throw the fish and are the subject of Stephen Lundin's popular business book Fish! A Proven Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results) are having a great time, even if it's smelly and usually cold and damp. A beautiful culture has five extraordinary elements: Purpose, Clarity, Service, Humanity, and Interaction. These are the elements that show up over and over that differentiate leaders and groups I see across industries and organizations where patterns begin to emerge. Over the coming months, we'll explore these elements in greater depth, but for now, consider these questions for your own diagnostic. Which areas might you investigate to create a more beautiful culture for your team? 1. Can each employee easily talk about the why of your business without saying "making money"? 2. Can each employee see a direct line of sight from their daily activities and tasks to the stated mission and vision of your organization? 3. How much time do you spend dealing with issues and concerns stemming from a lack of specificity? 4. How often do employees cite "communication" as their major concern in the organization? 5. In what ways would you describe your relationships with your customers/clientele as extraordinary or unique? 6. How is each employee empowered to "do the right thing" with regard to customers/clientele and each other? 7. In what ways are your employees and coworkers practicing everyday kindness? 8. When misunderstandings, miscommunication or drama happen, how do people practice resilience and forgiveness to forge a new future together? 9. Can each employee describe his or her interdependent relation- ships with every other function/department in the organization? 10. How does each interaction stake a claim for learning, growth and development? The truth is, we need to bridge the gap between purpose and profit, between mission and money, between discovery and mystery. Beautiful cultures address the whole human who shows up to work, who buys your products and services, who looks you back in the mirror. Haven't we had enough ugly? Check out Libby's Lucky 13! To honor our 13th year in business, we are working with new organizations to offer our unique Team Tune-up Program and Beautiful Culture introductions. Contact us at 206-906-9203 or libbywagner@libbywagner. com for more information. THE BEAUTIFUL CULTURE : EXTRAORDINARY ELEMENTS Libby Wagner Culture Coach RO RO Libby Wagner, author of The Influencing Option: The Art of Building a Profit Culture in Business, works with clients to help them create and sustain Profit Cultures. www.libbywagner.com

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