Trust
#apartmentmarketing: Culture
Your culture is your brand. TONY HSIEH – CEO, ZAPPOS.COM
Over the years much has been written about Zappos and Apple as it relates to culture. And, for good reason. Both companies enjoy massive success with customers around the world and continue to do so despite the ups and downs in the economy.
I have to believe it is due, in large part, to happy employees and more specifically the collaborative nature of their culture. I believe, in my heart of hearts, that a happy employee is a productive employee. And, a happy employee is, in part, is a byproduct of a superior culture. And, one that is customer-centric and based on a premise of trust.
Building Multifamily Culture
When I think of building culture; I think of the often quoted line out of: The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. The first sentence of Page 1 Chapter 1 reads “Life is difficult.”
Culture is difficult. When you think about it, you are attempting to meld a medley of individual cultures under the spirit of one unifying culture. The nuances are mind boggling.
Might I suggest that it bolis down to one word – Trust. Work on trust and the rest will fall in to place. Understand that it will take time, understand that there will be mistakes. Exercise patience with the former and reward the latter.
The health of your business depends on it.
What do you do to build up, maintain and push the edges of your culture?
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Multifamily #Trust30: Character
Day 14 of the #Trust30 challenge – Trust
…Decide what you want the future to be and make it happen. Because you can. Write about your future now.
(Author: Cindy Gallop)
It’s an elegant way of saying Trust thyself. There is no way of really telling how many times a year we have brilliant ideas cross our mind only to be lost in the same instance. And, no way to tell just how many times that dismissal is a direct result of our innate lack of trust in our own wherewithal. Or, back to that ever persistent dream killer – fear.
What do I want people to say about me when I die
A number of years ago I took the time to write a personal creed for myself. The soul-searching was prompted by a book I was reading at the time; don’t quote me but I do believe it was Steven Covey’s 8th Habit. The methodology included thinking about your very own funeral. I know, morbid huh?
You are at the back of the room as you watch four people take the stage to speak about you: a family member, a co-worker, a coach, mentor, friend or otherwise and a civic/church member. In the exercise you wrote about all the things you would want those individuals to say about you. In doing so you would discern the things that meant the most to you in the way you would want to live life. In a word: character.
Once you defined the character traits, the next step consisted of writing your creed. And, once the creed was written it was time to pen your goals and strategies with which you went about achieving them, predicated on the creed. Or, what you were going to do to build your character.
Character leads the way
Every year in early Jan, I sit and pen my goals for the coming calendar year along with five years and ten years down the road. All predicated on my creed. All in an effort to work on character first, accomplishment second and gathering of things third. In my head if I work on character, accomplishments will come followed closely by money and the things that money can buy.
Over time I will post the creed and the goals that go along with it as one of the last steps in the methodology is to share openly with those that would hold you accountable to living up to what you penned. But, not yet.
What about you; what methodology do you use to create the future for yourself?
Your working on 2011 goals predicated on creed and aiming for good character contributor,
M