April 27

Do Your Numbers Drive Your Culture or Does Your Culture Drive Your Numbers

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Peter Drucker once said: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He was right.

I know, and so do you, countless companies that set financial goals and develop strategies to achieve those goals with their beliefs about execution securely insulated inside a financially driven bubble. When numbers rule, aligned cultures are assumed into existence.“Of course, our people will do it. How can they not buy into the unarguable truth of the numbers?”

Some people do, in fact, react well in a numbers driven culture. Most, however, don’t. Most people need more substance beyond numbers in order to produce great numbers.

It’s imperative that sustainable, high performance companies adhere to a set of Values (to which people are held measurably accountable) that are comprised of both moral guidelines and customer experiences. That mixture of Values can define the context in which high performing cultures can form, thrive and have the potential for brilliant execution of strategies and goals that align with your chosen Values.

Wells Fargo Bank, Volkswagen, and if you want to go back in time, Enron are good examples of misguided, numbers driven organizations. They all tried to execute ambitious strategies, while believing that the appeal and need for material wealth could overpower the cultural conflicts that would ultimately rise up and destroy their reputations, diminish their earnings, reduce shareholder wealth, and in the case of Enron, destroy the company itself. And all three got away with it for years before they were exposed, had their ill-gotten gains and then some erased in a media dramatized heartbeat.

In the final analysis, it is people that believe, conceive, execute and create results.    

In the absence of having a healthy, balanced culture, sustained high performance is impossible. Paying attention to that foundational element does not diminish the importance of numbers. It actually increases the possibilities for you to set and achieve ambitious goals. At AXIES GROUP, we spend a lot of time developing ways to help companies set that course.  Numbers are a way to keep score. They are not the game itself.


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Book Reviews

Mastering Your Balance

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D. Thurman April 7, 2021

Amazon
The areas of balance required to perform as a top level organization are lifted from the almost unconscious to the very conscious in Mastering Your Balance. As a business and executive coach I see business leaders mostly consumed 95% if the time with near term issues. A perpetual game of Whack-A-Mole.

Perhaps, getting the various elements covered in the book in play and more importantly in balance these leaders would have far less moles to whack, and therefore much more time and energy available execute on their greater purpose.

Shane Willard April 21, 2021

Amazon
Bill & Jason get it. Having coached thousands of businesses and business leaders their insight is invaluable. They beautifully weave Vision, Values, Culture, Strategy & Purpose together into actionable steps any leader can implement. As they say, no matter how good one is at these individual elements, without balance greatness will always lie just behind your reach.

The 'what-would-it-take' concept in Chapter 2 makes you peel back the excuses and think creatively. "To achieve the impossible you must first envision the improbable."

At its core, this book serves as a blueprint for each vital element necessary to achieve success and balance organizationally (and personally). It reminds leadership where they need to focus.

Joe Fera April 1, 2021

Amazon
What would it take to shatter your limiting beliefs and lead your company to heights only dreamed? Read ‘Mastering Your Balance’. Bill & Jason have demystified the ‘Dark Matter’ of great leadership and great organizations and boiled it down to highly actionable and implementable elements. Aha moments abound!

LR March 31, 2021

Amazon
Mastering Your Balance answers the question and is a must read and reread for any organization daring to go from good to great! Mastering Your Balance shines a much needed light, drawing our attention to it, causing us to remember it's significance. More than words, we are reminded that a carefully crafted mission/vision statement is the organization's North Star.

Severin Sorensen March 24, 2021

Amazon
As a business coach I'm always looking for books to inspire the human mind, and give direction to business owners seeking to raise their performance in the great game of business. Mastering Your Balance is one of those books. The authors are experienced in the art of giving profound advice to their clients.