It's that weird thing that no one can seem to put their finger on, but it's why some people succeed where others fail.
Traditional wisdom says that success or failure is largely determined by your skills and knowledge. However, there's a third element of success that's more intangible. Sometimes we call it attitude or motivation, but that's only part of it. The real name for that intangible thing is "ethos."
Ethos is the mindset, attitudes and beliefs that you bring to your work and life. Webster's dictionary defines "ethos" as "the distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature or guiding belief of a person, group or institution." These internal, largely unconscious beliefs have a dramatic impact on the way we interact with others.
For example, if someone believes that customers (or children, or men, or women, or old people) are annoying, unenlightened individuals who make things difficult, that mindset is going to inform the way they behave with every single customer (child, man, woman, or old person) they encounter.
You can teach people proper procedures and train them on new behaviors, but their mindset is going to come through loud and clear every time. Ethos is kind of like DNA: you can't see it, but it affects everything else. However, unlike DNA, individual and organizational ethos can be changed.
The problem is that most organizations try to change people's behavior without addressing the ethos behind it. When was the last time you heard a CEO say, "Come on people, let's elevate our ethos." Instead, corporations spend tons of time and money on all kinds of skills training; they hold regular rah-rah meetings, and they crank out enough product and procedures manuals to fill a factory. And still, the jerk bosses, cranky co-workers, poor service reps and ineffective behaviors remain because no one addressed the underlying mindsets that caused the behavior in the first place.
How many times have you seen a manager go to leadership training, only to march straight back to their cube and bark at their staff? The "Effective Communicating 101" manual may be parked on their desk, but if they believe their employees are lazy, that's the mindset that will inform their actions.
Skills and knowledge will only take you so far; if you want to be more successful or help your team -- at home or work -- be more successful, you have to elevate the ethos. That means examining the beliefs that are causing the behaviors in the first place. What do people in your organization really think about their customers and colleagues? What does management believe about labor? What do you believe about your spouse, your co-workers or your boss?
Try this exercise: write down three things you believe about your boss, co-workers or spouse. How does this mindset inform the way you interact with them?
If you're the leader, your ethos sets the tone for the team -- which is good news, because when you decide to adopt a different belief system, you increase the likelihood that your team will follow.
One of our clients began changing their corporate ethos when the CEO declared, "We're a company who loves our customers." When you say it enough times and you create a system to support it, it eventually becomes part of your corporate DNA.
Skills, knowledge and ethos -- improve the first two, and you'll be pretty good, but tackling the third will put you on the road toward greatness.
Lisa Earle McLeod is keynote speaker, author, columnist and business strategist and the President of McLeod & More, Inc., an international training and consulting firm. Her newest book, "The Triangle of Truth," was named by The Washington Post as a Top 5 Business Book for Leaders, calling it "the ultimate guide for solving problems and managing conflict." Visit www.TriangleofTruth.com for a short video intro.
Follow Lisa Earle McLeod on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisaearlemc
I mean it. I have been blessed with a great many people that made my life richer for having worked for them. They made it easy to get up in the morning and go to work because I knew that they were going to greet me with a smile.
So yes, this is an important part of business.
You are right, though, to question why entire ethnic groups make up poor demographics. I believe that it takes years for many groups to overcome abuses of the past. In America those groups include all colors -- white, black and brown. Yet, one of the most abused groups in living history, has managed to overcome the horrific injustices it has suffered -- the Jews.
Very complex subject.
Oh, great. Lying is the solution (along with a system to support it).
There are ethical and cultural criteria of how a company ought to relate to its customers. But even at its best, a corporate/customer relationship just ain't love.
Brand is, indeed, part of a corporation's DNA, but there is no lying about it. That's where the employees come in. A successful corporation hires people whose personal brands are aligned with its corporate brand.
It's not a matter of saying it enough times; it's a matter of doing it enough times. If a corporation just says it loves -- and love is used loosely all the time these days -- its customers, but treats them badly, that will result in a disconnected and ultimately failing brand.
A brand is a capital asset. It depreciates over time, like any other capital asset. Money is spent to create and maintain it, insofar as that's expected to be profitable, and only that far -- as with any other capital asset. A company can own many brands. Corporate culture is distinct from brands. A corporation cannot love. The word cannot be used that loosely without completely turning it inside out and twisting until there's no meaning left.
On the other hand, a corporate culture that's incompatible with its brands will cause rapid depreciation of the value of those brands, to a degree that's nearly guaranteed to be unprofitable. If the brand has a lot of customer goodwill, but the company treats the customers badly, that is indeed a recipe for failure.
I'm 'doing' 30 day tests on myself to help me improve as a person and to achieve some things I've always wanted to. You can check out my blog, www.onemonthman.com and sign up if you like the idea. No worries if you don't!
But you are so right. There is one word that best describes success. That is "action." Fast on its heals is the wordk, "persistence."
A better individual life strategy, when we work for corporations, is to be personally prepared for all eventualities -- developing our own assets -- being kind and ethical to ourselves -- being ready to move on when we are told to move on or when we decide to move on.
Most very successful people don't have anywhere close to the education that mediocre successful people have. Middle management is overflowing with people with lines of designations and degrees after their names, who forever stay in the middle.
I would put those who inherit money in the category of rich but not necessarily successful. As for nepotism, children who inherit sought-after or executive positions because of who they are, rather than what they have done, almost always come crashing down.
Parental money, though, has great potential to give kids a leg up -- great motivation for parents.