Is your little red wagon stuck?

Your organization is like a little red wagon. You ask all your employees to give 110% to help you propel the wagon forward.

But you have not made your company’s brand (not logo or tagline…but point of difference and the promise behind that difference) something that every employee knows, breathes, believes and lives.

But, they are good people and want to give you that 110%. So each of them attaches their rope (talents and skills) to the wagon. Where THEY think it should be. Guess what?

Bob thinks it should be "give the customer whatever they ask for. Even if it’s wrong because you don’t tell the customer they’re wrong."
But Betty knows it’s "squeeze costs of goods, even if that means slow shipping" because price is king at your company.
Now John is convinced that it’s the people that make your company special, so he’s going to put his 110% of tugging behind better benefit packages so your retention rises.

See the problem? They are all pulling with all their might. But they are not pulling in the same direction. So your wagon goes nowhere. Your people get frustrated. You get frustrated.

All because you either don’t know what your brand really is or, you know but haven’t made sharing it with your employees a priority.

How long are you going to leave it stuck?