Blog

Steve

How principles, purpose, and core values link to culture

Stephen Covey used to tell a story comparing principles to lighthouses. The moral of the story was that you don’t break principles. You break yourself against them. Principles are timeless, natural laws that cannot be broken. They exist whether you choose to recognize them or not. Principles are guidelines for

Read More »
Steve

Do more than check boxes

Cynics might say, “Does it really matter whether a supervisor, manager, or leader can recall the organization’s mission, vision, or purpose statement or core values?” “What’s the big deal? Suppose she’s a solid manager—great with people and technically proficient. Who cares if she can recite the guiding statement or values?

Read More »
The Revelation Conversation
Steve

The 3 Ps of purpose-driven customer service (Part 2)

Last week, I presented Part 1 of an activity that will enable supervisors, managers, and leaders to produce fresh suggestions for how the team can consistently deliver purpose-driven customer service. Part 1 introduced terms to distinguish between actions and behaviors, job knowledge and job skills, job functions and job essence,

Read More »
The Revelation Conversation
Steve

The 3 Ps of purpose-driven customer service (Part 1)

Last month, I presented to a group of hotel general managers. These were the presentation’s three main objectives: Reveal the totality of employees’ job roles. Connect daily work activities to the higher purpose of the job role. Inspire greater employee engagement. Studies confirm that learning retention evaporates quickly without reinforcement.

Read More »
Steve

Hire for cultural fit

A company’s culture is the byproduct of the collective actions, behaviors, and decision-making of its employees. And employees’ actions, behaviors, and decisions are informed by the organization’s guiding statements and core values. To sustain a desired culture, even as employee turnover introduces a constant stream of new faces, it’s imperative

Read More »
The Revelation Conversation
Steve

Create alignment through constancy of purpose

Earlier this year, at a live management training event for a sophisticated multi-billion-dollar global company, I posed the following instructions in succession: “Raise your hand if you consider yourself to be a purpose-driven leader.” “Now, raise your hand if you consider yourself to be a values-driven leader.” As you can

Read More »
Steve

Cultivate a work environment where employees can thrive

A recent Gartner study revealed 52 percent of employees surveyed agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “The pandemic has made me question the purpose of my day-to-day job.” According to Gartner, “The era of the employment contract, when a worker provided services purely in exchange for monetary compensation, is

Read More »
Steve

Two types of KPIs

When you think about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, you think of metrics that matter to your industry and job function. If you work in a hotel, you may be thinking about KPIs such as occupancy, average daily rate, and revenue per

Read More »
The Revelation Conversation
Steve

Connect every job role to purpose

Recently, I was a guest on a podcast with Wanda Wallace. She posed some great questions, including one about how to connect every job role, including support roles that operate behind the scenes, to the organization’s purpose. In reflecting on the question, I am reminded of three priorities: Relevance trumps

Read More »
The Revelation Conversation

The Revelation Conversation is Here!