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Entrepreneurship is a hard road. There’s no rule book, and as a business owner, it can feel like you’re always on call.
Each summer, before my children start school again, I put that life on pause. We load up our RV and head out for a multi-week trip. I don’t invite distraction during this time: in fact, my team knows that I’m off limits. This time is for me, my family and our relationships.
Building a culture that can persist when I’m not in the office is crucial — not only to the success of my business but for my personal life. Creating culture takes intention, but the payoff is worth it. I won’t spend my waning days on vacation worrying about what I’m stepping back into.
I know. That’s because I work to decentralize myself from my business.
Not just short-term gains
Decentralizing yourself from your business isn’t just about the short-term gain of getting to go away on vacation or finding time to incorporate personal passions into your life outside of your business.
It’s about building a significant company.
Significant companies are ready to transition at any point. To have value in the eyes of a buyer, my business can’t just be about me.
That’s not to say that my mark isn’t on the business. Far from it. I put the work in on the front end with my executive team to craft eight “trust accelerators” that allow for clarity, alignment and informed decision-making.
Related: Lack of Trust—What Does It Do to Your Company? Here’s What Leaders Need to Know
Beyond core values
Almost every company has core values. We have them, too. But, right about the time that the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we all noticed that they weren’t working. While core values are general north stars for any organization, sometimes they can feel like they’re a galaxy away from the day-to-day issues that every person in a business must take accountability for.
What makes us unique is our trust accelerators, which are married to our core values. More than just guiding principles that we put on a wall, trust accelerators are active rules that we follow interaction to interaction.
In fact, we don’t put these on a wall somewhere in our waiting room: each trust accelerator is printed on a card that each member of our team carries with them.
Your culture is yours alone. These are the trust accelerators that we live by:
1. No meetings after the meeting
How we live it: If everyone is in a room to make a decision or discuss an initiative, they’re there by design. It’s inauthentic to invite input and then have two executives go into a room to debrief and make the real decision.
If a member of our team has something to contribute, we want them to do it in the room where the actual decisions are being made.
How it builds value: If people work at a place where they have obvious input into real decisions, they take more accountability for their contributions.
2. Put yourself in other people’s position
How we live it: We’re not just interested in the “how” of people’s actions; we’re interested in the “why.” After all, they may have good reasons that unlock clues about how we should operate. By seeking understanding, we build connection.
How it builds value: Empathy is a critical skill — not just for connecting with colleagues but for connecting with customers.
Related: 5 Foolproof Strategies to Help You Let Go and Trust Your Team
3. Listen while avoiding judgment
How we live it: My business, Exit Planning Institute, focuses on educating, credentialing and empowering Certified Exit Planning Advisors as they guide business owners through value creation and successful exits. While advisors have witnessed the factors that contribute to an owner’s success, every owner’s journey is unique — and there are many ways to build a significant company. Only through listening can we understand each other’s motivations and values, and embrace perspectives that might be counter to our own.
How it builds value: If a conversation is necessary, it deserves to be full-throated. That’s only possible with a listener who is willing to be curious, not judgmental.
4. 100% preparedness and participation
How we live it: Collaboration is crucial to an empowered workforce that can function without its leader. Our culture runs on every person showing up prepared and participating.
How it builds value: Every member of our team knows that they were selected for a reason. They can’t reach their full potential unless they are ready to contribute — and actually do.
5. Deliver the mail to the right address
How we live it: If we have an issue — or reason to praise someone — we don’t go to a trusted colleague or a supervisor. We go right to the correct address: the person we want to discuss with. It allows for more authentic communication — see “Listen While Avoiding Judgement” — and limits gossip, an incredible culture-killer.
How it builds value: Every member of our team knows they’re accountable to every other member—and our doors are open to have a conversation with each other.
6. Honesty without repercussion
How we live it: We’re not at work to be well-liked or adulated (although that happens sometimes, too!). We’re at work to advance our business. By cultivating an atmosphere of respectful honesty, we get to offer our insights and listen to how others might do things differently.
How it builds value: When every person on the team feels like they can contribute, we see how they might grow into their careers at the company — in the short- and long-term.
7. Respectful
How we live it: We’re bound not to see eye to eye. However, these trust accelerators do a lot of work to help us understand that we’re all working towards the same goals. When we put respect first in every interaction we have with each other, it reinforces that our differences aren’t personal — and can sometimes be assets to our business goals.
How it builds value: We can’t tackle the hard stuff until we see each other as humans. If everyone knows that their perspective is respected, we tap into each other’s skills.
8. Confidentiality
How we live it: We have to move past surface-level conversations if we’re going to be a significant company. We’re not shooting for good. We’re going for best-in-class. That requires trust—and in this case, trust that if something is shared confidentially, it stays confidential.
How it builds value: When we have deep trust, we believe that our colleagues—the ones we depend on to bring our goals to life—will do everything they can do to help us all achieve something great.
Related: 7 Proven Tips for Building Trust and Strengthening Workplace Relationships
Empowering your leaders
It isn’t easy to be an owner and not be in total control. However, there’s a multiplier effect that comes with empowering your employees and building trust across the organization. To build a culture where every person feels a sense of ownership, there must be two-way trust: employees feel trusted, and leaders actually trust the people they work with. Additionally, as I empower our leaders to build a culture where they are trusted to make informed, quick decisions, I’m also sure to:
- Train the executive team on my long-term vision.
- Be transparent about our profits/losses, our operations and even my salary. It takes a great deal of time to educate the leadership team, but it enables them to know the short-term impact of every decision.
- Over-communicate. I’m shocked by how many owners don’t communicate with their leadership team. They can’t make decisions that I’d ultimately agree with if they don’t know what I’m thinking.
Related: How to Close the Trust Gap Between You and Your Team—5 Strategies for Leaders
Building a culture of trust is something I think about every day, and not just because I know that culture will ultimately pay off with a more successful exit.
Culture also comes easily to me — it’s what I like to spend time on.
If you don’t, you can still build culture. Finding a Certified Exit Planning Advisor who specializes in company culture can help you start building human capital at your company.