Topic: Core Values

Have you ever met people who exude passion from their pores? These individuals believe in their cause so much they live and breathe it 24 hours a day. In sports, these are the coaches and athletes who lead with enthusiasm, conviction and heart. Think Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. Passion propels them right through obstacles, exhibiting personal sacrifice and sustained discipline to win championships.

In business, these are managers, entrepreneurs, and CEOs who lead with the same vitality; they are tenacious, and manage with passion.

There are interesting parallels between cancer in a human body and cancer in an organization and it all has to do with what’s going on at our core. Just as corrupting cancer cells attack the healthy cells and core functions of the body, something just as cancerous attacks healthy team members and the core of our business.

Serious damage will occur if we don’t detect and treat the cancer early.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Hire slowly and Fire fast,” but most companies do the exact opposite. We’re quick to hire people because we have a need and we want someone in that seat, now! When people aren’t working out though, we kick the can down the road. Fingers crossed, we plod forward trying to grow our companies with the wrong people.

Jim Collins famously admonishes all business owners and leaders in his classic book, Good To Great, “Before you begin your business journey, get all the right people on the bus, get all the wrong people off the bus and make sure that everyone on the bus is in the right seat”. Every business owner  I speak to knows this to be true. No one  disputes the logic. So why don’t more leaders act on it?

“How can we help you?” we asked. We were paying him $5,000 so this may seem odd. Yet this simple question set the tone for our entire relationship hiking up Kilimanjaro.