BUSINESS
By Judy White
What Story is Your Workplace Telling Others?
A Successful companies have more than great products and services. Their perfor- mance stems from a clear vision, established strategic priorities, and the ability to act on ob- jectives rapidly. World-class organizations, large and small, go beyond. They cut through an over- crowded marketplace with a distinct competitive differentiator: their people.
Every connection that is made with customers, clients, and relevant stakeholders extends the story of your workplace. How your associates communicate, care, and connect with customers reflects their innate talents and leaves a lasting impression. It can also make the difference in whether co-workers invest more discretionary energy, creativity, and extra effort or simply sub- mit the minimum.
An energized leader recently shared with me: “I can’t ever imagine leaving this company. I love working here.” After many years of working in health-care technology, this Generation X leader discovered his hidden talent potential, refocused his work/life priorities, and made a decision to align his values with the technologies that he found most intriguing and with which he felt he could deliver the highest customer return.
Smiling, he proceeded to share the many ways in which his new workplace was knocking his socks off by enabling him to connect with cus- tomers and collaborative colleagues to come up with new approaches to solving business chal- lenges with leading-edge design technology so- lutions that far exceeded anyone’s expectations. As a result, his company is blazing new trails in helping its clients achieve extraordinary results.
Before the shift, the narrator inside this Genera- tion X leader’s head was playing the role of “Pas- sionate Geek.” Imagine if he continued to listen to the old narration that said, “You don’t have what it takes to be a relationship-builder in IT. You’re a techie.” If he had stayed tuned to that, he would have delivered far inferior customer outcomes and possibly passed on contributing valuable ideas, energy and innovation that could help his company’s clients achieve success.
As women business owners, you have a unique opportunity to create more empowering work- place stories by following four intuitive steps:
Become aware of your current stories. Tune into the commentary that runs through your mind as well as your workplace conversations. Often,
32 Connect and Grow With Women In Our Community
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