Douglas Monieson- Chicago
While our passion for excellence is real, remember that the world has bigger problems than the daily challenges that make up our work. Keep perspective. Don’t take things personally or take yourself too seriously. Laugh every day, enjoy what you do.
Solve problems before they happen by anticipating future issues, planning for contingencies, and addressing them in advance. Work with appropriate lead times. Preventing issues is always better than fixing them.
Healthy, vigorous debate creates better solutions. Debate concepts without making personal attacks. Check your ego and push for the best solution, rather than your solution. Once a decision is made, however, get fully aligned by putting your complete support behind it.
Listening is more than simply “not speaking.” Give others your undivided attention. Be present and engaged. Minimize the distractions and focus on the topic at hand and your role in the discussion. Suspend your judgment and be curious to know more, rather than jumping to conclusions. Above all, listen to understand.
Recognizing people doing things right is more effective than pointing out when they do things wrong. Regularly extend meaningful acknowledgment and appreciation — in all directions throughout our organization.
Innovation, improvement, and success don’t come from playing it safe. They come from a thoughtful and intentional willingness to try the unconventional and to ask, “What if?” Try a new way. Record the old way.
Innovation, improvement, and success don’t come from playing it safe. They come from a thoughtful and intentional willingness to try the unconventional and to ask, “What if?” Try a new way. Record the old way.
Share information freely and on a timely basis throughout our organization and with our customers and suppliers. The more people know, the better we can collaborate. Learn to ask yourself, “Who else needs to know this?” Good news should travel fast and bad news should travel faster.
While effort is important, our clients expect results. Follow-up on everything and take responsibility to ensure that tasks get completed. Set high goals, use measurements to track your progress, and hold yourself accountable for achieving those results. Together we win as a team.
What got us here is not the same as what will take us to the next level. Get outside your comfort zone, rather than stubbornly hanging on to old ways of doing things. Be excited by the possibilities that change may bring. Be flexible.
Create systems and processes that are scalable and that support our ability to perform with consistency. Trust those processes to lead you to the proper outcome. Strong processes are the foundation of organizational effectiveness. Look for opportunities to improve our processes so that we’re constantly getting better.
Be open to learning from others, no matter what role they have, and regardless of their age, background, experience, or tenure with our company. We make better decisions when we consider multiple perspectives.
Be organized and plan your work for maximum efficiency. Have all the tools necessary before starting your work. Be thoughtful about your schedule, and have a game plan for your calls, your tasks, and your workday. Know the priorities and work on them first. Create to-do lists to organize yourself.
Respond to questions and concerns quickly, whether it’s in person, on the phone, or by e-mail. This includes simply acknowledging that we got the question and we’re “on it,” as well as keeping those involved continuously updated on the status of outstanding issues.
Speak honestly in a way that helps to move things forward. Say what you mean, and be willing to ask questions, share ideas, or raise issues even if they may initially cause conflict when that is what required for team success. address issues directly with those who are involved or affected.
Demonstrate a passion for excellence and take pride in the quality of everything you touch and everything you do. Always ask yourself, “Is this my best work?”
We trust each other and assume positive intent. It’s about the team, not the individual. Don’t let your ego or personal agenda get in the way of doing what’s best for our team. Be there for each other and be willing to step into another role or help a co-worker when needed, when required for success. Help each other to succeed.
Have a passion for what we do and be fully engaged. Make the most of each day by approaching every task with energy, focus, purpose, and enthusiasm.
Take personal responsibility for making things happen. Respond to every situation by looking for how we can do it. Work with the team to see issues through completion. Be resourceful and show initiative. Do not wait for others to solve the problem or dwell on why it can’t be done.
Work to understand how things work from the ground up. Seek different points of view, welcome countervailing facts and opinions and value feedback. Proactively test new and better ways to do things and look to incorporate those in everything we do
Some of life’s best opportunities lie outside of your comfort zone. Challenge your boundaries and don’t be complacent. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This drives personal growth and, as a result company growth.
Remember how you felt during your greatest successes and your worst failures. Use those memories and emotions to motivate yourself and drive future success.
We compete to gain share in the markets we serve. We value facts and measure our success with simple metrics that are visible to all.
Do what you say and say what you do. We need to always honor our commitments. When factors outside our control intervene, we make sure that our customers, our partners, and our team know as soon as possible what the issue is and how we plan to overcome the challenge.
Involve the right people at the right time and hold each other accountable and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.
Act with the customers interest at heart, even if it is to our own short-term detriment. We are a “high touch” organization that must always amaze our customers and create customer loyalty by doing the unexpected and by going the extra mile.