Prevailing Mindsets

A powerful story about mindsets that determine current and future results

To illustrate the reality of mindsets and their impact on a business we will explore what happened in a fictitious company: Bailey’s Logistics Plc. This will help us understand why, even when leaders work so hard on and in their companies, they do not do better. It will explain why, although companies have the necessary technical and management skills within their structures, sales and profitability so often do not reach their potential. It will also explain why, when people in a business are ‘alive’ with its vision, strategy and brand in a way that customers ‘feel’ and are ‘impacted’ by, more is spent on their  products  and services and less on their competitors. It will explain too, how personal impact is as applicable to internal ‘customers’ as it is to external paying customers and why nothing else has the power to distinguish a company in an over-crowded global market place, and why no matter how good the strategy and plans of a business are, it is only the dynamism of personal impact that can sustain a Growth Chain Reaction™ and keep a company from the swamp of mediocrity.

The problem is not one of effort, as people generally work very hard at what they do. The problem is the current paradigm that limits what companies and employees believe is possible. To challenge current thinking requires that we challenge current standards.

The model below provides a visual illustration of the three mindsets that determine employee performance. Only one of them enables people to fulfil their commercial potential and impact the Growth Chain Reaction™ of a company. The other two either inhibit growth or actively obstruct it. Company earning power is therefore enhanced when the actions of employees are motivated by their Growth Mindset or it is constrained by their job mindset. Wherever an entitlement mindset is encountered, growth is severely obstructed. Personal impact starts where a Growth Mindset starts.

The Function Zone

In the ‘function’ zone employees apply their skills to the job without any thought or effort to make a difference. They provide the minimum that is required of them to get the job done. This has nothing to do with the level of skill the person brings to the business and everything to do with the attitude of their engagement. A person who operates in the ‘function’ zone believes they are ‘owed’ a job and a living because it is their right. They are only interested in their pay cheque. They are often disgruntled with their employer and with life in general and have no ‘spark’. Where this attitude exists there is no personal responsibility and no connection whatsoever between their work, customers and what the company is trying to achieve. This negative spirit, void of any purpose beyond earning a wage, is a poison that can spread and undermine the vision, mission and profitability of a business. Let’s see how this plays out in Bailey’s Logistics.

Applying the Function Zone to Bailey’s Logistics Plc.

It’s a typical day and Harry Jones, the regional sales manager, is behind in his preparations to pitch for new business from Eagle Star Foods, a national producer of breakfast cereals. Mary at the reception desk, still bearing the frown she left home with after an argument with her partner and problems getting the kids off to school, barely acknowledges his greeting.

What might not have mattered nine days out of ten mattered today, because in Mary’s negative state of mind she did not bother to tell Harry Jones about the message she had put on his desk that Eagle Star Foods had phoned to say his presentation had been brought forward because  the chief executive of Eagle Star Foods wanted to attend. Because Harry Jones was late, as he so often was these days, he decided not to go to his office, but to try to complete his preparations in a company meeting room. Of course had he received his message, he would have solicited the help of his boss Peter Drake, the national sales director, who normally only made himself available in situations of extreme importance.

While in the meeting room waiting for his coffee to cool,  Harry Jones began to wonder why he was not that concerned about this sales pitch. He had brought in enough business in the five years he had been with the company, but recently mistakes, bad service and a looming strike by the operations department made him doubt the company’s ability to meet new customer demands. He remembered the statement made by Burt Franklin the operations manager at last month’s meeting, where he bemoaned the extra work load he and his team had to put up with. So Harry Jones decided to make things easy for himself and use an old presentation that did not feature the company’s newest vehicle fleet or the client’s new mission statement from their latest annual report.

Of course Harry Jones’s arrival fifteen minutes ‘early’ was actually fifteen minutes late. Harry Jones’s lateness was made worse by his ill preparedness. Eagle Star Foods might have overlooked these misgivings if they could find any real sense of personal belief by Harry Jones in what he was trying to sell. They did not. The presentation did not go well and Bailey’s Logistics lost the opportunity to secure a five-year contract worth £250,000 a month.

The Service Zone

The ‘service’ zone is where employees are moderately engaged in applying their skills and themselves to their job and the business, but with clear limits as to their willingness to proactively explore the full potential of their value. This is the zone in which the majority of employees operate in. They understand the rudiments of service, but there is a limit to how far they are prepared to go. Service is viewed as something they are paid to provide, rather than a heart-felt passion to provide excellence.

Employees who operate in the ‘service’ zone are often career minded but do not see their careers as a ‘business’. If they did, they would do everything in their power to define, shape and deliver the unique value that would place them in the ‘impact’ zone. Personal responsibility would be total, not partial.

The concept of service is powerless today in differentiating a business in the eyes of customers because not only is it expected, it is also relatively easy to achieve and most companies do a reasonable job at providing it. Therefore many companies fail to achieve their true potential because achieving good service is the limit of their understanding of excellence. Failure to realise that the ‘service’ zone is no longer a competitive differentiator means that companies do not expect more from their employees. This is demonstrated as we apply  this to the story of Bailey’s Logistics.

Applying the Service Zone to Bailey’s Logistics Plc.

It was not a typical day for Harry Jones, the regional sales manager, because he was about to pitch for new business from Eagle Star Foods, a national producer of breakfast cereals. He had worked on the  relationship for months, and finally the day had come to make the presentation, which also contained Peter Drake the national sales director’s valuable input. Mary at the reception desk was always good natured and could be relied upon to provide a good ‘company face’ to visitors, as well as take and manage messages for staff when required.

After greeting Harry Jones with a smile, she reminded him about the message she had put on his desk that Eagle Star Foods had phoned to say his presentation had been brought forward, because the chief executive of Eagle Star Foods wanted to attend. Harry Jones went immediately to the office of his boss Peter Drake, the national sales director, to ask him to accompany him to the presentation. Peter Drake gladly moved two previously arranged meetings to do this, but without any explanation to the people he had just cancelled meetings with. This was a mistake.

Had he explained to Burt Franklin, the operations manager, that the reason for postponing the meeting was to attend the Eagle Star Foods sales presentation, Burt Franklin would have told him of the latest customer satisfaction report he had just received that placed Bailey’s Logistics in second place in industry ratings, up from sixth place as recorded in the previous report that Eagle Star Foods had a copy of.

Harry Jones, in the meantime, continued to practice his presentation, which did feature the company’s newest vehicle fleet and the client’s new mission statement from their latest annual report.

Harry Jones’s experience and preparedness meant that the presentation to Eagle Star Foods went well and they were impressed with the offer. But not impressed enough. Bailey’s Logistics did not win the opportunity to secure a five-year contract worth £250,000 a month.

The Impact Zone

The ‘impact’ zone is where employees express their unique ability and Growth Mindset. This produces an entirely new level of sustainable income growth to a business as a result of an entirely new and measurable paradigm of human performance – people so motivated and determined to transform the future of a business, its customers and their career that they go beyond conventional skills, service and current experience to fully express their unique talent, innovativeness and entrepreneurial engagement in executing a business  vision they regard as their own.

But can this level of commitment be achieved and if so, what will it take to do so? Growth Predictor Intelligence™ demystifies what might seem unattainable, and makes tangible what comes naturally to every street trader in the third world who has learnt to compete for a very real goal… staying alive economically. This is how it worked in Bailey’s Logistics as we relook at the story.

Applying the Impact Zone to Bailey’s Logistics Plc.

These are the days Harry Jones, the regional sales manager lives for. He prepares and trains for days like these as if his future were completely dependent on them. It is days like this that everyone in Bailey’s Logistics also waits for… and with bated breath. Everyone knows when and to whom a major sales presentation takes place. They also want to know how things have gone… before the team arrives back. They ensure news travels around the company… fast. Why? Because Bailey’s Logistics values its people above everything; they are the heart of the business and customers know it. They also share in the company’s financial success, earning regular cash bonuses and participating in its share scheme.

Today is a major sales presentation to Eagle Star Foods, a national producer of breakfast cereals. Harry Jones has worked on the relationship for months, and finally the day has come to make the presentation, which also contains Peter Drake the national sales director’s valuable input. Mary is no ordinary receptionist. She is relied upon to collate and disseminate company news. She has already told Burt Franklin, the operations manager, that the presentation to Eagle Star Foods is scheduled for today. She has also placed on Harry Jones’s desk a copy of the report just received from Burt Franklin that places Bailey’s Logistics in second place in industry ratings, up from sixth place as recorded in the previous report that Eagle Star Foods now have. After greeting Harry Jones with a big smile and a ‘Go for  it Harry’  look, she reminds him about the message she has put on his desk that Eagle Star Foods had phoned to say his presentation has been brought forward because the chief executive of Eagle Star Foods wants to attend. This is just what Harry Jones was hoping for, and he goes immediately to the office of his boss Peter Drake, the national sales director, to ask him to accompany him to the presentation. Peter Drake responds with a grin that he has already cancelled his meetings and that he wants Burt Franklin to also attend… and present the new industry report to Eagle Star Foods.

The three of them get together to plan their revised presentation which not only features the company’s newest vehicle fleet and the client’s new mission statement from their latest annual report, but also Bailey’s Logistics’ new industry rating.

Eagle Star Foods can see the belief in Harry Jones’s eyes that he has total confidence in Bailey’s Logistics’ commitment to the standards of excellence that he presents. This is backed up by the integrity of Burt Franklin, the man responsible for making it all happen, and the leadership of Peter Drake. Bailey’s Logistics not only win the opportunity to secure a five-year contract worth £250,000 a month, but negotiate extra performance bonuses because Burt Franklin has uncovered some additional ‘technically sensitive’ needs they firmly believe they could meet which would help Eagle Star Foods’ own performance. This is agreed.

That year not only do Bailey’s Logistics Plc. post its best results to date, but every staff member earns their largest bonus. Needless to say, the industry rating report also has a new leader.

What can we learn from Bailey’s Logistics and how they achieved what they did? Let’s take a close look at Bob Jones, the CEO. Bob Jones clearly understood that the ‘impact’ zone draws a clear distinction between people who only make a contribution to a business and those who impact a business and its profits. He also understood that when the qualities that define the ‘impact’ zone are fully developed in a business, any goal becomes achievable, but when ignored, mediocrity becomes inevitable – possibly even stagnation and economic obsolescence. Bob Jones displayed three crucial leadership qualities.

1. He realised that every person in his organisation either created or inhibited customer-spend…there was no neutral ground.

2. He saw potential value in people beyond their current skill and experience.

3. He allowed current engagement and profitability paradigms to be challenged and replaced by the higher standard of personal impact.

Leadership

Bob understood that there was an umbilical cord between his company’s strategic intent and its operational reality. This umbilical cord was how well his company vision and strategy was ‘lived’ by his leaders at all levels and how well it was embedded in the hearts and minds of his employees who had to execute it. This was also Bob’s definition of leadership.

Growth Mindset

Bob knew if his leaders and their teams had the motivation to reach beyond their current experience, and were determined enough to impact the business’s growth in a unique way, this would be demonstrated by their taking ownership of the new opportunities that they had taken the initiative to recognise. Not just in new sales, but also in small focused opportunities, captured every day by every staff member, that he knew would add up to the Big Sale.

Risk and Reward

Bob’s bonus and share scheme worked because his people believed in what they were achieving, and were prepared to demonstrate this by sharing in the risks and rewards of poor or outstanding performance.

Innovation

Innovation came naturally to Bob’s business as employees worked together to drive value up and costs down. This produced new saleable value and new ‘bankable’ efficiencies that far exceeded the bonuses that were paid.

Focus on Customers

Focus on customers came naturally because everyone shared in the philosophy that maximising impact on customers would maximise business results, and this was an integral part of how everyone treated everyone else in the company.