Preface

When I was a young kid, my Mom sent me outside to help Dad and take him a plastic cup of ice water.  It was a hot, humid, Midwestern summer day.  When I got outside, I saw Dad was sweaty and dirty from working in the yard.  He had the push mower flipped upside down and he was taking apart the pieces surrounding the blades, underneath the mower’s cutting deck. 

When he saw me, Dad smiled, stopped what he was doing and took a long drink from the cup I had bought him.  Out of nowhere he started telling me a story about when he was a young kid my age. Dad grew up on a family farm in Iowa, just outside of the small town of Kanawha (population 700).  

“It was Fall. My Dad had been in the field combining corn all day. He worked around the seasons and the weather. He worked in support of neighbors, and especially during harvest, he often worked late into the evening. It was already dark outside and Dad had pulled the combine into the machine shed (an open wood framed building covered in thin steel siding with large sliding doors at both ends). The machine shed was cold and had a dirt floor. 

“After dinner, Mom sent my twin brother and I outside to “help” our Dad in the machine shed. When we entered, he was under the combine, laying in the dirt, with wrenches scattered around his upper body. I think he may have been replacing the cutter bar.  There were nuts, bolts and washers on the chest of my Dad’s overalls. I went to the right side of the combine, while my twin brother Bob went to the left side of the machine.  We sat quietly in the dirt next to Dad and were watching him work.

“As Dad moved down the length of the combine cutting bar, one of the wrenches became just out of his reach. The wrench was directly in front of my twin brother.”

Dad took a pause from the story and stretched out his arm into the air.  I can still see him making a motion with his hand like he was reaching for something. 

“I remember seeing my Dad’s hand straining, struggling for that wrench that was just out of reach.  I can still see his fingers scraping in the dirt like it was yesterday.  I looked at my twin brother, and he was looking at our Dad’s fingers too.  The look on my twin brother’s face was one of anticipation, as if he was wondering whether Dad would be able to reach the wrench. He made no effort to help. He just watched.

“Then I looked toward my Dad’s face and saw disappointment.  Not anger.  Not sadness, but disappointment.  I had never seen my Dad look like that before. When I saw that look, I climbed over him and grabbed the wrench from the dirt.  I put it in his hand.  He finished tightening the cutting bar and sent us back into the house.” 

“I remember nothing else from that day, but I have never forgotten this.  When you see someone that needs your help, you help them… without them having to ask.” 

My Dad told stories like this often.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but through his stories, my Dad was teaching me the secret to successful leadership.  He had great accomplishments in work and our community, but the intentional focus of his life was on something more intangible.  Growing up, I sensed if you wanted to be a leader, there was something important hidden behind being able to get something done.

I heard echoes of my Dad’s lessons during my time in the United States Marines Corps. Then again, as I began leading my first business of 90 employees at the age of 34. One day a supervisor helped me finally put together the pieces of what my Dad was trying to teach me about leadership. 

In the wake of that event, I realized my Dad was trying to teach me that within every relationship in your life, it’s not just what you accomplish together, but HOW you do it.  

When you lead without the HOW, the most important part of leadership is missing.  Both you and the people surrounding you will be unfulfilled, regardless of how much you win.

Today, The HOW Is What’s Missing

In a society that is more prosperous and educated than ever before, do you sense the growing dissatisfaction in our workplaces, our culture, our schools, our communities, our places of worship and in our government?  The turnover, the apathy and the frustration are all symptoms of the same underlying issue.  Leaders are spending more money to make people happy and it only continues to make things worse.

Consider this, what if my Dad was right and what’s missing on your team can’t be bought?  What if the solution is free and readily available to any leader who was willing to stop listening to the experts and look to something more intangible?

I believe that what’s missing on your team is the HOW part of your leadership.  The priorities, goals, KPI’s, data and information, have made you busier than ever, causing you to unintentionally neglect the HOW. 

Threads Is The HOW

The solution for bringing the HOW back into your leadership and healing your team is Threads.  Threads is a method of core values leadership that intentionally injects the HOW into every part of the way your team interacts, by ensuring core values are always on an equal footing with what you accomplish.

As a Threads leader, you make a commitment to success always requiring both things… what you accomplish and HOW you do it.  You promise your team that you will never sacrifice the HOW in pursuit of your goals and that you will hold everyone on the team accountable to this same standard.

As you begin to lead with Threads, the symptoms you used to spend your time treating will start to clear up… rapidly.  It is possible for an organization with hundreds of employees to have less than 2% employee turnover and produce financial results in the 99th percentile for their industry, through a consistent commitment to leading with Threads.  Your HR team or other managers may tell you this is impossible in today’s environment, but I assure you, I’ve done it before and seen this happen many other places.  

In The End, The HOW is What Matters

My final lesson from my Dad in core values leadership came after he died in 2016 as I welcomed people to his visitation.

As the oldest son, I was standing next to my mom, my wife and our children. My brother and his family stood next to us.  At 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the doors to the funeral home opened.  The visitation was scheduled from 4-7pm.  People came through for nearly 5 hours straight. 

Individuals from all walks of life.  Calloused hands.  Work boots.  Suits and ties.  Farmers.  Doctors.  Business owners.  Bankers.  The waitresses and cooks from his favorite breakfast hang out. Wounded veterans he had made canes for.  Seniors and staff from the care center he volunteered at.  

After 73 years of life, hundreds of people showed up to pay their respects to my Dad.  Not one single person would speak to me about his accomplishments in business or the community, which were many. Instead, people told me stories.  Stories like the ones my Dad told me growing up.  

One of his former employees drove 350 miles to the visitation with his wife. 

“I worked for your Dad back in the day.  I was going through a rough patch.  He talked to my wife and I about my problem with alcohol.  Your Dad arranged treatment and time off work for me to get better.  It saved our marriage.”

I stood there in the visitation line listening to stories like this. Over and over for 5 hours. Let me tell you, it was a hell of a time to finally truly understand what one leader like my Dad meant to the rest of the world. I knew people loved him, but I found out why that night. 

If I’m being completely honest, one of the primary reasons why I’m taking the time to write Threads down is because I want my Dad’s life lessons to live on through a new generation of leaders.

Start the Journey

The rest of this book will share the actual stories, exercises, templates and financial models I used to be a core values leader for my team. I’ll walk you through to process of leading with Threads in an understandable, step-by-step way… from laying the foundation, to implementation and then the ongoing maintenance of holding people accountable.

Our society is starving for leaders who will make the HOW a non-negotiable part of their success. If you are a skilled Threads leader, you will be able to write your own ticket to wherever you want to go in life.

Along the way, you will also experience the satisfaction of having people on your team tell you that they can’t imagine having to go to work anywhere else.

I want you to feel this as a leader and I want the people on your team to experience what it is like to work in this kind of environment.

The Great Core Values Lie

I was in the room with the CEO, the President and the rest of their management team.  They had just finished bringing in a consulting firm from Chicago to help them establish their new core values.  They had invested a lot of time and money, including $25,000 to survey employees, interview small groups and compile the data in a nicely packaged report.  Then, the company spent another $25,000 for materials, posters, banners and training sessions for their 350 employees.

The CEO said to me, 

“It doesn’t sound like you think very highly about the process we went through to find our core values. In fact, you have me thinking I've just wasted $50,000. Be honest. Tell me what you really think about what we did here?”

As I read through the materials, I saw terms like cross functional, brand tenants and paradigms.  The report was a bad tasting soup of buzzwords.

I put the report down on the table and asked them one question,

“Can any of you tell me what your core values are?  Right now.  Without looking at the report or the poster on the wall?”

There were eight people in the room.  Over $50,000 was just spent and I heard only two of the six Core Values.  You could see it in their faces.  They had been sold a bill of goods and I felt bad for them.  Sure, $50K is a lot of money, but my bigger concern was the credibility they lost.  If the leadership team wasn’t connected to their own core values, I’ll guarantee you the employees had no idea what they meant either.

The CEO came over to me in private after the meeting.  He was a big Tom Calahan type of guy that had successfully navigated his family’s business through decades of changes.  After growing by hundreds of employees, they made some hires from larger companies in the industry to professionalize the way they operated.  The CEO had listened to one of his new Fortune100 and MBA educated staff on how to run the core values process, including which consultants to hire.

He wanted to know how I knew that the core values they developed were bullshit in such a short amount of time.  I told him,

“Honestly, they don’t sound anything like you.  The words you see in here (the report) and how you defined them are not your words.  I can tell that from being with you for an hour.  It’s not you and it’s not how you talk.  It’s certainly not the employees on the floor.” 

The CEO said,

“I can’t believe we fell for that.  I wish I would have talked to you 10 months ago before we started this whole process.”

The Great Core Values Lie

Unfortunately, this scenario is common.  In the eyes of most employees, core values have become synonymous with bullshit.  What happened?  How did core values go from being the legitimate cornerstone of any organization to becoming synonymous with bullshit in less than a generation?  

I believe the blame rests solely with the Great Core Values Lie.  

The Great Core Values Lie is that your employees aren’t experiencing the core values you are advertising.

When employees see and hear you talk about core values, they want to believe it’s true.  They hope your words are authentic and that “this place is different.”  Then when their personal experience of working day-to-day in your organization conflicts with the core values you are advertising, their belief in your authenticity as a leader turns to a belief in your hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy experienced over time evolves into bullshit.  

This same process I describe in the paragraph and story above, happened throughout our society over the last 20 years.  In the early 2000’s, companies like Zappos and Southwest Airlines became famous for marketing their core values to consumers.  This coincided with Google consolidating search, so everyone talking about core values was getting their information from the same place.

Thought leaders, educators, marketers and consultants filled the first 100 pages of your Google search with variations of the exact same information about the hot, new core values business trend.  When you searched for information on Core Values, you actually found another company’s marketing materials cleverly disguised as the help you were looking for.  

People invited culture consultants in and bought their services hook, line and sinker.  Tens of thousands of organizations developed and advertised their organization’s core values to their employees for the first time.  

Then… core values were put to the test.  When it came time for millions of employees to experience the newly established core values within their organizations, employees found out quickly that what was being advertised didn’t match up with the reality they saw with their own eyes.

In those moments, when leaders needed to personally live and hold people accountable to the core values they were now marketing to their teams, many did not follow through on their promises.

The result was not truth leading to authenticity about core values, but hypocrisy leading to bullshit… at scale. 

The 5 Core Values Commandments

The good news for you reading this is that with most organizations floating in the sea of core values B.S., there has never been an easier time in history to stand out as an authentic leader. 

But before we take a fresh approach to determining your organization’s core values, we need to correct the false beliefs that may still be supporting the Great Core Values Lie in your own mind.

These 5 core values commandments will keep you on track as you work to get your core values right this time.

#1 Internal, not external

Core values should always be written to communicate with the people inside of your organization.  They are meant to face you and your employees.  

Core Values should never be created from a mindset of what would look good to outsiders.  If you find yourself considering whether a potential core value would look good to customers, society, regulators or anyone else not a part of your organization, stop.  Shift your focus back to your team and imagine yourself having to explain the core value to a specific person on your team.  Would it feel natural and would it make sense to them?  If not, is it true? 

#2 Your words, not buzz words

Core Values should always be in your own words, the way you and people on your team actually talk in front of each other.  

If you can picture a consultant or politician saying anything you currently have surrounding your core values, toss it out and start over. 

#3 Consistency, not hypocrisy

Core values should always be consistently protected on your team at the same standard as the most important performance metric.  Even if you have the perfect core values, a lack of accountability will ruin them.

There are most likely some actions and situations that are openly hypocritical to your core values happening right now within your organization.  I know why you don’t deal with them.  They are hard situations that you justify not having time for right now or it relates to a specific individual that is too valuable to risk losing.  I have been guilty of this in the past and so have people on my leadership teams.   

Don’t fall into this trap.  Regardless of the difficulty, you must consistently hold people accountable to the core values.  If not, it’s better to not publish core values at all.  

#4 Behaviors, not beliefs

Core values should always be clearly defined with the specific behaviors that a person would be expected to do for one another in the absence of any rules, policies and procedures.  

Today’s experts define core values as something you use to virtue signal to the world.  They say core values are “aspirational”, “deeply held beliefs” and “what you stand for” as an organization. It’s as if saying or believing words about core values will produce an actual outcome you want.    

In reality, core values need to be defined with behavioral action items.  Core values are not beliefs, they are something you do.

#5 Experienced, not marketed

Core values should always be experienced by your employees and your customers.  People should understand your core values by the way they are treated.  Try putting this to the test.

• Would you rather have someone tell you they value integrity with a poster on the wall or would you rather they showed you how honest they were when it might cost them something?  

• Would you rather have a company advertise customer service as a core value on their website or would you rather experience great customer service when you interacted with one of their employees?

• Would you rather have a company put a core value of “Family” in your onboarding packet or would you rather be treated like family by your co-workers once you are on the job?

In a world full of fake and phony, real things that are experienced stand out. The core values you feel will make you a believer.

Now It’s Time to Get Your Core Values Right

Let everyone else continue hiring the consultants, marketing their core values, and perpetuating the Great Core Values Lie.  While they are pretending all that activity is actually working, you are going to take an afternoon away by yourself or with a few of your best employees to actually get your core values right.

When you are done with the afternoon, you will have: 

1. New core values / definitions, 

2. Core values stories to make them memorable, 

3. Review criteria to keep your team accountable for core values, and

4. Interview questions to find people that share your core values.  

All you need is a pen, paper and a stack of index cards.  The Threads core values exercise assumes you, as a leader, already know the answers to your core values and what needs to be done surrounding them.  The only thing missing is a process to get the core values out of your head and down on paper in a way that can easily be communicated to everyone on your team.

Let’s go!

Core Values + Results Everywhere In Life… Except at Work

When Threads was created, my HR manager was initially skeptical.  She thought it was going to be too big of a change for the organization to consume.  We already had an efficient performance management system in place and she thought about the amount of work that it was going to take for her personally to make it happen.  Yet, she followed up her skepticism with an even more interesting statement,

“I would love to use this concept on my husband.  I’d like him to know that moving the yard, washing the cars, cleaning the garage and bringing home a good paycheck isn’t all there is to a successful marriage.  When was the last time you took me out on a date?  When was the last time you suggested we go out to dinner or made plans with another couple?  You know, the things you used to do before you tricked me into marrying you?”

She laughed as she said this, but at that moment I knew Threads was going to be successful.  Threads works universally in every workplace because it makes sense in real life.  

Human beings are hardwired for Threads.  We have evolved or been created to need the “how we do it” to be happy and satisfied in any interpersonal relationship.  This is true with your spouse, your children, your friends, your sports team and in the workplace.  A strict focus primarily on results, KPIs, goals, efficient administration and financial success will never satisfy anyone on your team because it neglects the “how” part of the equation that every employee needs to be happy at work.

Before you dismiss the idea as “never going to work for my team” or say that you're too busy for things like this, consider this story from Pastor Brian.

What’s Missing From Our Relationship?

Several years ago, I had an interesting discussion while helping a pastor from a church implement Threads with his staff.  Pastor Brian had been with the church a number of years and often performed relationship counseling for parishioners.  Brian said that Threads reminded him of a counseling session he just completed.

“I was counseling a young couple who had been married for almost a year.  They had come in to discuss and find a solution to some marital problems.  I sat and listened to both individuals, one at a time, detail all of the things that they do inside of the relationship.  

“She said how she was doing the laundry, all of the shopping, handling their newborn baby, cleaning the house, and managing the countless responsibilities that it takes to run a household.  The young man would then reply with how he was bringing home the paycheck, working 10 hours a day, mowing the yard, taking care of the cars and managing their improvement projects around the house.  The husband would say, “You see, you aren’t the only one who’s busy around here!”

This was the EXACT situation Pastor Brian had seen play out in counseling many times before.

“Once it is agreed upon that both people are busy and doing plenty of things around the household, the mood of the conversation usually shifts. Now is the time when sadness, tears, and hurt come to the surface.  I listen to both people describe how the other doesn’t have time for them anymore.  How they appear not to care and are more interested in other people or things. Why are there no dates, or moments anymore for just the two of them?  He says that she’s always too tired, and she says he is never one to help get a babysitter and arrange for them to go out. 

“While they speak, they look only at me and not at each other.  It’s like clockwork… two people who are committed to working together with each other, sitting 3 feet apart, focused on comparing all the things they do.  All the while never taking a minute to consider what is missing, what each one of them really needs.

“Both people want love, affection, appreciation… the “how” about the way the other person makes them feel.  Both believe that they earned what they wanted by their performance in the relationship.  Both people want to go back to the time before all of the responsibilities and obligations of life got in the way of their love.”

“It is easy to see it from my seat, but sitting 3 feet apart, neither one of them can even look at each other and admit that.”

Pastor Brian continued,

“It is so incredibly sad to see people in this position.  As these feelings are neglected over time, their situation becomes permanent.  It is the new reality of their life.  They become two roommates arguing over who’s doing what chores.  It is very dangerous territory for a marriage.

“When I go back to the weddings and think about the vows, you know the promises they make as they stand in front of one another, their families and friends.  How often do I hear them promise results?  Chores?  Going to work and earning paychecks or taking care of the kids?  Almost always the promises on the wedding day are centered around the “How” they are to be married.  They talk about loving, honoring and cherishing each other through good times and bad.  Even onto death they promise the other person that the “How” part of the marriage really matters.

“It’s almost as if someone from a long time ago knew, in advance, that the HOW was going to be the part of being married that was most in danger of being neglected.” 

The Same Thing Is Missing At Work

Your leadership is like the marriage Pastor Brian described.  Finance, technology and administrative HR have given you every system you need and every piece of data imaginable to run your business. You are busier than ever.  It’s not enough and you try harder.  

“We offer competitive pay, great benefits, paid time off.  We’ve added perks and flexibility to our scheduling during the pandemic and now we are offering sign on bonuses to cover our turnover and get people in the door!  People still aren’t happy!”

And you are not happy either. As you think about how hard you are trying and how much you are providing, you are also starting to build the feeling of animosity towards the people you care about protecting and serving.

If the young man or woman in Pastor Brian’s office decided to work harder on the “results” would it provide what’s missing in their relationship?  What if the husband remodeled their kitchen?  What if the wife put in extra time to make the home run smoothly?  Their efforts will increase, resentment or apathy will grow and their negative feelings about the other person will continue to harden.

What if you are sitting in Pastor Brian’s office, 3 feet apart from the people you are trying to lead, giving your all, but blind to what’s happening?

The people you are leading don’t care about a new KPI system, an HRIS to streamline onboarding or a culture committee.  They are sitting 3 feet away from you, needing you to focus on and give effort to the “how you do it” part of the leader/team relationship.  This is what’s missing. 

Your turnover problem, your lack of engagement and every other headache you have within your organization right now, traces its way back to leadership being asleep on the “how” side of things. 

Once you acknowledge this and change your primary focus as a leader to the “how” first, happiness from everyone at work will start to increase.  People will be satisfied. Engagement and commitment will return.  You will start to see all of the symptoms that continue to get worse start to improve.  Going to work will feel good for everyone again, including you.  Your team will respond by achieving far better results than ever before.

How Do You Do The “How” At Work?

I’ve presented Threads to thousands of leaders during the last 10 years.  Many people hear this story and instantly recognize what’s missing on their teams.  The biggest question I get is, 

“Yeah, those are great stories, but how do you do the “How” at work?”

Many people think this part of leadership is intangible.  It’s something you either have or you don’t.  In other cases, they are managing a team and have no idea where to start as one person within a large organization.

Don’t worry.  I won’t leave you hanging.  Threads is more than an inspirational idea or story.  Threads is a METHOD. It breaks down the “how” part of leadership in a systematic way that anyone can implement to build a great culture on their team.

For the leaders who think Pastor Brian’s story has no place at work, I have one last appeal to you from the most results focused organization I have ever been a part of… The United States Marine Corps.  The Marines have clearly defined expectations down to the smallest detail and enforce 100% accountability on the objectives.  What most people don’t realize however is that Marine Corps boot camp places an equal weight on “how” U.S. Marines achieve their results.

Deal With Problems Directly

You have completed the groundwork for introducing Threads Culture to your team.  The core values have been created and you have determined your method for measuring results throughout your organization.  Many people in your organization are now aware of what Threads is, but have not yet experienced it and felt how things are going to change.

One of the most important parts of introducing Threads leadership to your entire team is in the area of practical application. There are things going on in your organization right now that are inconsistent with your core values.  It could be an individual who thinks their high performance is an excuse for their behavior or a group of employees who are testing the limits of accountability.

With Threads, these situations have now become opportunities. They have the unique ability to be highly visible and transformational events to the organization. In these moments, it’s critical that you get things right.  Everyone will be watching to see what Threads means and if you are for real.  It’s time for everyone to see what core values and results look like in action when it comes to leadership.

Before we get started in this chapter, we need an example of how to display the courage your team needs from its leaders.  The next time you are faced with a problem, don’t hide behind a policy or procedure to give the appearance of action.  Deal directly with the individuals causing the problem.  Remember this story about how a moment of courage can change how an entire team feels about going to work.

We Would Like You To… Reiterate Our Policy

The first time I did a company-wide launch of Threads was in an organization of 120 employees.  The concept of Threads had been introduced to our leadership team and all the employees had seen the new review form and process.  No reviews had been done, but the concept of what was coming was widely known at the time.  Everyone was aware that going forward core values were on equal footing with results and performance.

One morning, I had a knock at my door.  Dan, our Operations Manager and Jill, our HR Manager were arriving to discuss the contents of our next upcoming company meeting. Typically, to kick-off the company meeting, I would give an update to the entire company on sales, sales pipeline, new equipment purchases, and any other significant things happening inside the organization. After my updates, I handed off the meeting to Dan and then Jill to cover topics specific to their areas.  Both were newer to their roles, and I always enjoyed how uncomfortable it made them to speak to the large group of employees.  I especially enjoyed watching them get better at it each month.

Our planning meeting started like it normally did.  We covered all the topics and assigned the responsibilities as usual.  All of our company-wide metrics were on plan with no surprises.  I thought we were wrapped up, when at the end of our meeting there was an uncomfortable silence. 

After an awkward moment, Jill spoke up and said the following: 

“We would like you to reiterate our attendance policy at the company meeting.  We are having some people leave early at lunchtime and it’s starting to affect the morale of everyone else.” 

Alarm bells started going off in my head, there had to be more to the story.

It’s Been Going On For Months

Rather than reiterating the policy for everyone, my first response to them was a battery of fact-based questions.  I needed to capture an understanding of what was really going on behind the request. I asked,

“What is the attendance issue?  Who’s causing the problems and why does it matter for a company wide meeting?”

Jill, our HR Manager, responded,

“A group of employees is leaving early for lunch.  They exit the building out the side door 5 to 10 minutes early every day.  It started with 3 employees and the group has grown to 7.

To make matters worse, these employees are typically the first people in line to grab lunch, gas up or hit the bank.  When other employees who are leaving on time pull up, this group is already first in line or pulling away.  They are always smiling, laughing and waving at the employees stuck in line.  People are tired of it.  This is starting to hurt morale.”

I asked,

“What have you done so far about this problem?  Has it worked?”

Dan, our Operations Manager said,

“We have talked to these individuals multiple times about this.  After each time, their supervisors see some short-term improvement, but they always go back to the same behavior.  There’s never a long-term resolution.  They stop leaving early for a while, and then as soon as they think no one is looking, they go right back to leaving early.

It’s been going on for months now.”

What Do You Want Me To Do?

I followed up with, 

“What do you think should be done now?  What kind of help do you want from me?

Jill said, 

“We want you to address this attendance issue and the expectations in front of everyone.  That way, these people know how serious we are about this and everybody will see this has the attention all the way at the top.  The entire team will be put on notice, so we can stop this before it spreads further.”

The answers to all my questions weren’t a surprise.  We had our rules, policies and our procedures in place. They weren’t being followed by a small group of people.  Now it was time to escalate things.  To have the president put his foot down and ensure that everybody knew how serious we all were about this problem. 

By addressing everyone, the innocent would know we weren’t talking to them and that something was being done.  The guilty would know that we were talking directly about them.  This next escalation would surely do the trick.  Or would it?

I Will Not Be Doing What You Asked

I thought about what they were asking for a minute.  We had 95% of our people doing the right thing, following the expectations and leaving on time.  I remembered what our organization was like when I first joined it. We had no rules, policies or procedures. No employee handbook.  Yet, we were successful and grew to this level.  What was different?  Back then, we had no policies or handbook, but we had the accountability of peers and leadership to our core values. 

I told both managers that I would in fact NOT be doing what they asked.  After their initial looks of surprise, I asked them,

“Can you give me the names of the individuals who are leaving early?  Which side door do they use and what time are they typically headed for the exit?”

Amazingly, they could answer all my questions right that second.

Good Morning!

Our meeting was wrapping up close to lunch time.  Once I had the information I needed, I headed to the door that these employees would be exiting about 10 minutes before I knew they would be there. I asked Dan and Jill to join me. We stood outside the door and waited.

About 11:50am the door opened just as it always did… Only this time, I was waiting outside the door and stopped them in their tracks. I said,

“Good morning!  I glanced at my watch and said it is still morning, isn’t it?”

They were absolutely stunned. For the next 15 minutes we stood and talked about what was going on.  During those 15 minutes, these employees went from fear to shame to excuses and then back to shame. My questions were designed that way.  I asked,

“Have you been talked to about leaving early?”

“Did you know that leaving early was a problem?”  

“Why did you continue to do it?”  

“What do you think about the people you point at and laugh every day?” 

I was not going to bail them out.  The uncomfortable silences hung in the air between questions.  I made sure to have enough questions in hand, so the conversation would go past 12 o’clock.  

At noon, the rest of the employees would start walking out the door and they were going to see me standing there talking to this group. These 7 individuals were going to see the looks from each one of their peers.

Everyone knew exactly what I was talking to them about. They witnessed that these 7 employees were finally being confronted, exactly as they deserved to be. 

The smiles in line at the bank and drive-through today, would be theirs. 

At 12:05, after I was sure everyone else had walked out the door, I told these 7 individuals that they were free to go to lunch. I told them,

“You have the full 45 minutes for lunch too. I wouldn’t cheat you out of the time you had earned.  If this happens again though, I’m going to fire you.”

Then I asked if they understood. They did.

Would You Have Seriously Followed Through?

That afternoon was quiet.  The employees were talking, but it wasn’t normal and the tones were hushed.  Everyone SAW and experienced first hand what we had been talking about with Threads.  Policies were set aside in the name of our core values, culture and the good of the team… the way it used to be.

The problem never happened again.  From anyone. 

You might be asking yourself, were you seriously going to fire someone with good productivity for leaving work 10 minutes early?  The answer to the question is no. Well, maybe the answer is yes.  I would have fired them, but not specifically for leaving early.  

I would’ve fired them for willingly and repeatedly not caring about the team and trashing our core values.  For putting themselves above everyone else. That’s not the way we treated each other and I would have fired them to protect the other 95% of people who were looking out for each other.  

For me, it had nothing to do with 10 minutes.  It had everything to do with team, accountability and integrity.  Everyone got the message that willingly and repeatedly not doing those things will cost you your job around here.  Regardless of your productivity.

It’s Obvious When You See It

Dan and Jill would tell me in retrospect, that the whole situation was incredibly uncomfortable for them. From the confrontation at 11:50 AM, to the awkward silences as I let them twist in the wind waiting for their co-workers to exit.  They were both disappointed in themselves for not being able to handle the problem on their own.  They told me,

“It was so obvious what to do ONCE THEY SAW IT.” 

I’ve never forgotten that statement.  My hope is that this story will help you to SEE IT in the same way they did.  Then you can take action when you see these types of things going on within your team now and in the future.

The rest of this chapter will show you how to navigate specific individuals and situations that you may soon be dealing with to protect your core values.

Coasting Into Retirement

As you build a Threads core values driven culture on your team, you are going to retain a higher percentage of your employees over time.  Employee tenure will steadily increase as you develop a stable base of great people who can’t imagine working anywhere else.  Many employees will choose to work for you until a major company or life transition.  Really great cultures can even have people retire from them.  

Yes, it can and does happen.  In a society where the average employee tenure is only 4 years, it is still possible to create an environment where people will choose to stay and work for you as long as possible.

I’m Going to Retire

I had been working with Jim for almost 20 years on the day he came in to tell me he was going to retire. Jim had been an incredibly valuable member of our team. He had been there from the beginning as one of our early employees and had responsibility for bringing in millions of dollars of sales over his career.  He was a quintessential problem solver, one of the best I have ever seen at figuring out a solution when everyone else had given up.

Jim was also a planner.  He was the kind of guy who had been planning for his retirement for many years before it was going to happen.  He was a savvy saver of money and invested time into building his dream place to retire. It was in a warmer climate, so he could enjoy golf and other activities.  For him, it wasn’t if he was going to retire, but when.  As the time got closer, Jim talked about it openly with anyone who was willing to listen.

It was a normal work day when Jim officially stopped in to my office to tell me about his pending retirement.  I was expecting to have this conversation, but not necessarily at this specific time. When he told me the news, the first thing I did was to tell him “Congratulations!” Then, I asked him what he planned to do, (as if I already didn’t know) and his timeline.  He wanted to retire in 6 months at the end of the year.

Finally, I asked him,

“How do you want the team to find out about your pending retirement?”

Now, most people assume that, of course, this person wants to tell everyone himself.  Jim’s been talking about this for the last several years and now will be his moment in the spotlight. Strangely, he said that he preferred I told the team about his retirement and that I wait a few months to do it. 

I Want To Take It Easy

Then he said this,

“I’m planning to kind of slow down what I’m doing. I’d like to not be involved in so many things. I’d like to kind of just take it easy these last several months.” 

I was caught off guard by this.  Jim wasn’t the kind of person to want to take a victory lap.  He must’ve seen the expression change on my face when he said that, because immediately after he asked me,

“Is that going to be a problem for you?” 

Without hesitation, I said,

“That is absolutely going to be a problem for me. Your career has been outstanding and I would hate to see you go out like that. I always envisioned you as the kind of person who would put the finishing touches on a masterpiece.  That you would give the best work you’ve ever done, then walk out the door and turn off the lights.” 

Now, Jim was looking back at me strangely.  He told me that he believed he had done that many times already. In fact, he was 100% correct.  He had done that in our organization time and time again over two decades. Then he said,

“I feel like I’ve earned the opportunity to coast to the finish line and into retirement.” 

You Are As Important As Ever

So, what do you say as a leader? A very valuable employee is giving you six months’ notice on the way into retirement or a transition to a new role in another organization. This employee has done a fantastic job for you over their entire career and given you everything they had. 

Has this employee earned the right, after years of hard work, to coast into retirement? The answer is NO. 

I told Jim,

“Over the next six months, you are going to be as important as you have ever been to this organization. You are going to be sharing your knowledge with everyone who can learn from you.  You’re going to be transitioning your workload.  We need you documenting the important aspects of your job, the things nobody else may realize you do to make this place run the way it does.  You are going to continue contributing to the daily work and projects that are flowing to our organization.” 

In fact, I told him that,

“What I’m saying is something that I had actually learned from watching your actions day after day over the years.  I saw the lights on at night when I left. I saw the lights on in the morning when I came in.  That is who you are.  You are somebody that I have always looked up to and aspired to be like in terms of your work ethic and dedication. Whatever you do in the next six months will set an example for others to follow.” 

And then I finished with this: 

“I can’t let you go out of here that way. Legends should go out like legends.  Anything else in my eyes is unacceptable.” 

I can admit that, when I said this, he wasn’t immediately satisfied.  In fact, we sat in uncomfortable silence.  He was thinking.  After a minute of looking at me, Jim stood up from his chair.  He didn’t say a word.  He stepped towards me and extended his hand.  I stood up and shook it.  He turned and walked straight out of my office.

Jim made his next six months a masterpiece.  He was a shining example of how a person finishes an amazing career.  Everyone who followed him, lived up to his precedent.  His example was so great that I have strived to follow it to this day.

Principles to Follow

Retirement or any planned employee transition takes on many different scenarios depending on the person and situation.  You will have people who view retirement as a glorious opportunity they’ve worked and saved for their entire lives. Others will be retiring for scary health reasons and be facing a future filled with uncertainty.  You could have a long-term employee transitioning out of the organization because of a spouse’s upcoming job change.  It could also be a situation where the role has evolved into something the employee no longer enjoys.

You may see all of those scenarios and everything in between over the course of your career as a manager when it comes these types of transitions. Regardless of the details, here are 6 principles you can follow universally, to help you successfully navigate through any employee retirement or transition situation.

#1 Understandings, Not Misunderstandings

The first thing to consider is that not everyone is going to be the same at this moment. Sure, you will have policies around an employee’s pending retirement, but be careful to consider the human side of what’s happening before you. 

Since there are so many variables to what a person might tell you, how do you even know where to begin?  Start with asking questions to understand the reason they are retiring.  Watch for their  personal demeanor towards the idea of retirement. Are they happy? Excited? Nervous?  Could it be that it’s necessary because of a medical condition? Understanding the reason why a person’s retiring and what they’re planning to do afterwards will start to bring the picture into focus. 

Take notes as you discuss these questions. At the end of the discussion, go over your notes and make sure that the steps that you’re about to take are perfectly clear to the employee. Understandings, not misunderstandings. 

#2 Get A Specific Retirement Date

The second thing that you should find out is the employee’s specific timeframe for retirement. I have had people tell me they’re planning to retire a year from today, as well as six months or even sooner. The planned retirement date can also be closely connected to the person’s demeanor about retirement (#1).

If the employee is unsure of a specific date, set a follow-up meeting to get back with them and confirm a specific date soon.  Do not leave employee’s pending retirement up in the air. It can cause absolute chaos inside of a department and even an entire organization if an announcement is made with no time frame attached.

#3 Decide How And When To Communicate The Retirement

The third thing to find out is how the employee would like to communicate what they’re doing to the rest of the team. 

• Would they like to wait a certain amount of time?  

• Do they want to tell the team themselves or is it something that they’d like you to mention on their behalf? 

• If the employee wants you to make the announcement, what SPECIFIC details would they like you to share? 

Giving people the opportunity to announce their retirement with dignity and the way they’ve imagined it, is an important part of getting it right.

#4 No Coasting In To Retirement

The team that’s still there deserves better. The employee who is retiring deserves better.  You need to be concerned about the example that’s being set and what that means for your team long-term. Remember, when things don’t happen very often inside of a company, those things set precedent for all similar future events. From a leadership perspective, that precedent is going to be important to you long after this employee is gone.

#5 Succession Planning

Utilize the time given to you effectively. If you have several months, don’t wait to the last minute to start making decisions about who will fill the role of the retired employee. Particularly, if that employee is in a leadership role. Once a retirement is announced, the first question that those left behind will have is “Who’s going to be filling that role?” Good leaders will have a plan for this moment and not wait until the last minute. Waiting can cause internal battles with people jockeying for that position. I’ve seen moments like this turn into real problems for an organization. When this happens, we like to blame the retirement of the individual… only you know better.  

#6 Do Something Personal

Write a note, a letter, something that recognizes what the individual has done for you. What they have taught you? What do you admire about them? When you do this, I want you to think about the time that a person has given to you and your organization. They’ve given a huge part of their life. What do you say to a talented person that’s given so much to you? Take your time. Write this note as if their spouse or children is going to read it… because they will.

How You Treat Them Is What They Will Remember

A retiring employee is going to be extra work. They are going to be hard to replace.  Retirements can even lead to some fear and trepidation on your part.  Never forget, amongst all of that, people will be watching how you treat the person that’s retiring. This is what your team will remember most about your leadership during this time.

Human Beings, Not Handbooks

All leaders will have experiences with employees who are making personal improvements and moving up in their careers.  These employees are great at what they do and are good cultural fits with your organization.  Then one day it all falls apart. You aren’t sure what, but something has gone terribly wrong. 

HR gives managers rules, policies and procedures to deal with situations like this. There is the first warning, probably verbal in nature. Then there’s the second warning, which may be written in nature. Then there’s the dreaded last chance.

At some point in our lives, we succumb to management by the handbook. 

Remember the employee handbook? You know, that document that was created to deal with the lowest common denominators who happen to make it through your hiring process. 

Outside of the death of a loved one, or something of that nature, you’ll find that most of your solid employees will rarely open your handbook. They’ll definitely be nowhere near any of those policies when it comes to discipline… unless something in their life outside of work is turning their life upside down. These are unique situations and require both your heart and your mind.

Before we get started in this chapter, we need a reminder to be human.  If an employee has been an important part of your team and something suddenly changes for the worse, take a moment and remember this story about Mike.

Trouble At Home

When Mike started with our company, he looked a little bit rough around the edges.  Mike was covered in tattoos, rode a motorcycle and had chains hanging off his belt.  He was the kind of guy that had an intimidating stature.  I happened to be part of the group that interviewed him to join our company.  Despite the appearance, Mike had kind eyes and was really a genuine person if you could look beyond the facade. 

Once he got settled, Mike improved steadily and moved up in the organization.  He was making more money.  He had more responsibility.  He was treating people well and everyone loved working with him.

After a couple of great years with us, there was a little buzz around the office that Mike and his wife had been having some difficulties at home. Mike loved his wife more than anything in the world. He would’ve even given up his motorcycle for her.  Apparently, she had met another man and had decided to leave Mike.  He was trying everything he could to try to continue the relationship, but at the end of the day it still fell apart.  And so did his job performance for us.

Don’t Start With the Handbook

We had a young manager in our company who was Mike’s immediate supervisor.  This manager was relatively new to the organization and was following the pathway of the employee handbook to a “T”.  First a warning for attendance, then a warning for quality related issues, and then finally a written warning which indicated more serious consequences were on the horizon if the problems were not fixed.

It was inevitable, when a situation gets to this place, HR and/or the manager are coming in to speak with me about the next ”more serious consequences.” As the leader of the organization, I usually choose to put a little bit of pressure back on the people following the procedures that we have in front of them. Don’t get me wrong, procedures aren’t all bad. In fact, they can be very useful when dealing with certain situations and employees. 

Too often, the mistake managers make is taking the rules, policies and procedures we write for the lowest common denominator and apply them to what are our very best employees under unique circumstances.  In this case, Mike’s circumstance was in fact unique.

Ask A Human Question

I decided to ask this manager and our HR leader a very human question: 

“Is it true that Mike’s wife has left him? Could what’s going on with his work performance be directly connected to that?”

All of us in the room knew the answer, but no one was willing to speak when the question was asked. You see, the answer to this situation isn’t as simple as it might seem on the surface. 

We’ve been trained as leaders to not get personal with our employees, to not ask questions. Personal lives are personal, and none of our business. While there may be some truth to these statements, overall, I find them to be a copout. 

If a good person is having problems at work, and you know they’re facing difficulties in another part of their lives, you certainly can ask questions in the right way to get to the bottom of the problem.

Is Everything OK With You?

I asked the supervisor and HR to sit in with me as I called Mike to the office to speak with him. When Mike walked in the room, I thought he might cry. He saw the three of us sitting in the room together and immediately assumed the very worst about his job. 

I stood up and looked him in the eye and said to have a seat.  

“This is about your job right now.”  

Mike sat down, and I proceeded to talk to him about his performance. Both how his performance had changed and how we hadn’t previously seen any issues with him since the day he started.  

I let him know that he was important to us, that what he did inside of our organization really mattered and that we needed him back.  Then I just asked Mike a simple question, 

“Is everything OK with you?”

It was at that moment where Mike started to break down. He told us how he showed up at home and all his belongings were in garbage bags in the front yard. His cell phone contract had been canceled and he was locked out of his bank accounts.  At this point in his life, he had a motorcycle, the cash in his wallet and all his possessions in garbage bags. 

Stop.  Just think about that for a minute.  Feel it.  It’s a hard thing to imagine, let alone watch.  A tough looking guy humbling himself and telling you about the lowest point in his life. 

At this point, the handbook and disciplinary process didn’t matter.  The supervisor and HR were only observers. The conversation to me became very natural, almost like I was talking to a friend. Sometimes I question that.  Employees?  Friends?  Who knows?  There are times when a Threads leader interchanges those things and maybe that’s what leads to moments like this. 

Get Things Right 

When Mike was done talking, I said that I can’t imagine how he feels right now. I truly couldn’t.  I asked him what exactly was going on?  Where was he living?  How is he getting by?  

Then I told him this: 

“I’d like you to take the rest of the week off (it was Tuesday).  It’s paid and won’t count against your vacation or sick time.  I want you to take some time and get things right.  Then I want you to come in on Monday and give me an update.”

Put yourself in Mike’s shoes.  He needed a new phone plan.  He needed to make living arrangements and possibly figure out what’s happening with the kids.  He needed to go get groceries. He needed to take care of the necessities in life and to get his feet under him.   

“I want you to take some time and get things right. Get a new phone. Make living arrangements. Talk to a lawyer and understand what the divorce papers say, and what your rights are in a situation like this. These things can take time, and sometimes it’s better to have time away from work to deal with them and focus, to get yourself straight.” 

And then I closed the meeting with this.  I told Mike again that, 

“You are important to us and what you do matters to our team. We care about you and we want the best for you.” 

Mike stood up and I put my arm on his shoulder.  I told him good luck and to call me if he had any questions.  If not, we would see him back on Monday ready to get back to work.

Technically, what I had done was not following the rules and policies set forth in our handbook.  What I did was treat Mike like a human being. 

You hear leaders talk about how much they value our employees and how “our people are our greatest asset”.  They call their team a family.  It is in moments like this with Mike that it’s your responsibility to make these words of reality.

Welcome Back Mike

When I came into the office on Friday morning, not Monday as planned, I noticed that Mike’s motorcycle was parked in the parking lot.  On my way in, I walked by his workstation and said hello.  I asked him if everything was going OK. 

Mike asked if he could come down to my office and talk to me in private. Mike came in and closed the door. And then he said this, 

“I got everything taken care of that I needed to. I appreciate the time that you all gave me. I can’t believe that you actually paid me while I needed a couple of days to get my life right.”

Then there was a long pause and Mike’s lip shook just a little bit.  He said,

“Did you know that you’re the first person in months that told me that I mattered? You are the first person that told me that you cared about me and that I was important. As much as I appreciate the time off to get things straightened out, and I really did that, I can’t tell you how much it meant to hear that from you.” 

I’m not at all ashamed to admit that Mike saying that made me a little teary-eyed myself. 

I’ve Got Your Back

After our conversation, I thought it would be good to reconnect with the manager and HR to tell them what happened.  The policies and procedures were guiding us to move Mike out of the organization.  Treating Mike as we would hope to be treated, brought him back stronger and more committed to our company than ever.

The most important part of that conversation went like this,

“Our rules, policies and procedures are guidelines. Your responsibility as a leader in this organization is to make your own independent judgments when it comes to your people.  Always, to the very best of your ability, treat people as family and human beings amongst those rules and policies.”  

“I want you to be comfortable coming to me with any questions about circumstances like this.  And I want you to know this too…  I will always have your back as the leader of this organization, when you are attempting to do the right thing by any of the people that work here.”

Don’t Hide Behind The Handbook

Mike got his personal life back together in short order. He continued to move up into the organization and was back to being himself at work. 

Think about Mike's story the next time you notice your managers, HR or maybe even yourself breathlessly chasing the policies in your handbook, instead of using our human instincts to lead people the way we know we should. 

The remaining sections of this chapter cover a framework for each of the most common situations I have seen, where life happens to the best of employees.  In these cases, a policy will not be enough.  You will need to use your humanity and skills as a leader to help bring these people back on track.

These situations include:

Coasting Into Retirement

Beware Of The Side Hustle

Troubles At Home - coming soon!

It’s easy to hide behind a handbook and say, “I’m sorry.  My hands are tied.”  I’m asking you to have courage and not take the easy way with your people.  I promise you, there will come a time down the road, where things like this will be the true judge of the person you became and what you accomplished as a leader.

Was It Worth It? Your Last Day At Work

In the middle of my career, I had this rare opportunity.  I had spent 22 years and over 50,000 hours of my life building a business.  It was a great run.  I had started in maintenance as the 9th employee and spent my last 10 years as the company president.

I was leaving to pursue a new opportunity with my brother.  As I was sitting alone in my empty office, it was completely silent.  Having spent so much of my life doing this thing, I was trying to find the meaning of it all.

My mind didn’t go to the things you could see – the building expansions, the 200 people we had hired or the amazing financial results.  

The only things that truly mattered and gave me peace in that moment, came from the culture we built with Threads.

Have you ever thought about your last day at work?  How will it feel for you when your office is empty and your boxes are packed?  

In that moment, you will ask yourself “Was it worth it?”

Hospital Visitation

Several years ago, I was meeting a friend in the hospital, a guy that I had looked up to from work.  He had been a mentor when I was younger and he was facing surgery for cancer.  As I was at the hospital and we were visiting, the visitation pastor from his church came in.  And we all sat and talked for a little bit.  The nurse came by and said our visit had to be over.  My friend had to have some additional tests done.

You know, it takes forever to walk out of a hospital. I was stuck next to his pastor the whole way.  After a while, I felt uncomfortable at the silence, so I made a comment to this pastor.  I said,

“It must be tough to do what you do every day, to be with people at the end of their lives, or facing surgery or the loss of a loved one.”

And what he said to me was actually kind of surprising.  He said,

“You know, it’s actually been a gift to me.  I have learned a lot about people.  I’ve learned that maybe I judge people for who I thought they were until I actually sat down and talked to them.  Until you’re in those moments and you talk to people, you really don’t understand what they are all about.  And what I’ve heard from them causes me to view my life differently.”

A Piece of Advice

I was really kind of taken back by that and then he asked me if I’d like a piece of advice.  I said,

“Yeah, I would love a piece of advice.” 

And the pastor said, 

“I’ve been with a lot of people like you.  A lot of people who’ve had very successful careers, doing very well, managed people, run successful companies.  At the end of their lives, at the end of their careers, and in every single instance, what they talk about in those moments are things that you wouldn’t expect.”

He continued,

“They are stories about people.  They are stories about individuals accomplishing great things or people who have worked for them and gone on to start their own business and employed people.  And my advice to you today is to invest in those things when you’re young, so that when you face a moment like this in the future, a significant change, or the loss of a loved one, or a surgery, or maybe even the end of your life – you’ll have those things to draw on.  It will be very important to you.”

I thought about this advice quite a bit at the time, but it sort of escapes you as you return to getting busy with the day-to-day stuff.

My Last Day After 22 Years

About 15 years later, I was sitting in a spot pretty much like that pastor had told me about.  I had resigned from a company that I’d worked at for 22 years and people I’d cared about very deeply to pursue a brand new opportunity for myself.

I loved the people I worked with.  I loved the company and I loved what we did.  And I was walking away from it. 

It was my last day and I was on my way out the door. It had been emotional. I decided it was a time I needed to leave through the side door and not the front door. 

I had already said my goodbyes and I had a half of a box of just stuff that you collect over 22 years.  It’s stuff you can’t throw away.  It’s a tape measure or a cigarette lighter or a picture, some memento that a salesman dropped off to you one day.

I looked at this box that was left.  One box.  And it had things in it that were meaningful to me at some point in my career. But on that day it, didn’t seem very meaningful at all.  I found myself asking this question of myself,

“Did it matter? What did you do?  What did you get for this investment of how you spent your life?”

Was It Worth It?

When I looked at that box, it just didn’t seem to satisfy me.  It was at that moment when I could kind of feel the hair stand up on the back of my neck.  I felt almost a little short of breath because this was ending.  I looked at that box and asked myself,

“Was it worth it?” 

When looking at the contents of that box, something didn’t feel right.  Then everything that pastor told me 15 years earlier came true.  Every single thing he mentioned to me that day was exactly what went through my mind.

The things that I thought about at that moment were only the stories about people… the kind things we did to help one another, the ways the people on our team developed and grew as human beings. 

A specific story stood out in my mind as I sat at my desk. The one thing that mattered most to me walking out the door that day was a story about this supervisor on our team. A while back, he told me:

“I really didn’t understand our company or really know what it was like to work here, until I saw 30 people from our company at my Dad’s funeral.  I had worked for us only 3 months.  I didn’t know a lot of people in town yet and felt like a could really use a friend.”

“You know, that made a difference to me.  That was something that made me understand that this can be more than just a job.”

I remember that day specifically because when I sat in the pew and looked up at him when he walked in to the church behind his father’s casket, I could see it in his face.  I could see the shock and surprise that we were all there.

On my last day, alone in my office, what mattered most was remembering that supervisor telling me this story. It was more meaningful than anything else I had accomplished.

The part that made it even better was there was no manual consulted. There was no employee handbook rule and no policy or procedure to allow this to happen.  The people on our team chose that path willingly on their own. They chose to do this because of our culture.  It was who we were as individuals, and who we were together as a company.

Your Time Is Short

When you walk out the door on that last day and are faced with how you spent your career, how will you handle it?

From my experience, the culture you built as a leader is what will matter most in that moment. Leaving will be difficult, but the thing that will make it alright is having created memories like this.

A Threads Leader makes the commitment in their heart and mind to lead the people on their team differently. There is a limit to the time assigned to each of us. Start today. Put your focus as a leader on building an environment where things like this will happen.

Threads Culture Example: United States Marine Corps

The morning after high school graduation I headed to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot (“MCRD”) in San Diego, CA for Basic Training.  I was 18 years old, confident and in complete control…..at least for the next 36 hours.  I landed at San Diego International Airport at 10:30 PM and what happened next changed my life forever.

No No No No No! This is not how it was supposed to go!

As I walked through the terminal, a smallish man in a Marine Corps class C uniform signaled me towards an open door. As I approached, he smiled and said “Welcome to San Diego.”  I was just about to say thanks, when he extended his hand, snatched my arm in a vise like grip and proceeded to drag me into the open door with force.  I did not appreciate it one bit, but before I could respond in anyway, 3 other Marines cornered me and began screaming in a language I could not understand. I was forced to the ground, and told to keep my head down and eyes closed.  What had I signed up for?  This is all wrong!

After a short bus ride we arrived at MCRD, ran from the bus and took our places on the famous “yellow footprints.”  What had seemed like hours, actually had been only a couple of minutes. We were informed of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and taught how to stand at attention.  We turned in our personal effects.  We were broken down and essentially re-booted. The Marines shut the power off and erased what we knew.  Then they began the process of building United States Marines.

Threads Leadership Packed In To 96 Days

The U.S. Marine Corps culture is worth studying for Executive Coaching because they build a culture that is second to none among military organizations and they accomplish this feat in only 96 days.

The Marines take young men with a wide variety of abilities, backgrounds and belief structures.  These individuals are turned into a cohesive unit, bonded by the Marines Corp core values and possessing the skills required to produce results as United States Marines.  Here’s how they do it.

United States Marine Corps Core Values

Honor.  Courage.  Commitment.   The Marines engage recruits with the clear communication (verbal, physical and emotional) of their value system.  Every Marine recruit not only learns the values of the Marine Corps, but they know how and why these core values are important.

Mike Strank.  Chesty Puller.  Ask any Marine and they will be able to tell you how these Marines exemplified the core values on the battlefield.

Marine recruits are instilled with pride from this education.  You learn that there is nothing better, no greater sense of accomplishment than to be a Marine.  You develop a deep sense of appreciation for those who went before you and are privileged to be joining an elite community with a history of overcoming in the face of anything. 

Marine Corps High Performance / Results

When you enter basic training, you quickly learn that you don’t know how to do anything the Marine way.  Even if it’s something you have done a 1,000 times before, you relearn it.  The drill instructors teach you the Marine way for brushing your teeth, showering, making your bed, eating, speaking, standing, thinking, shooting, reacting…..everything you do in your daily life.

They Marines are highly specific about the results they want in every area of your training.  Then they hold you 100% accountable to producing those results regardless of the difficulties you face or the challenges they create for you during basic training.

Lessons for Executives

It’s pretty clear that you are not about to leap from your chair and start painting yellow footprints on the floor of your business. There will be no screaming, physical and emotional intimidation. Your business is not life and death, but it’s important to you and your employees. Here are three takeaways for you organization based on how the U.S. Marine Corps builds its culture.

1.) To build culture, your people first need to understand your culture.  Most people have a good understanding of the results required by their jobs.  But if you asked people in your organization what your core values are would they be able to answer?  Would they know why your core values were chosen and why each one is specifically important to your success?  Would they have examples of people in your organization living the values so they could apply the values to their work?  Find ways as a leader to communicate your core values and instill pride in people for being a part of your team.

2.) When it comes to culture 90% isn’t good enough.  To have the best team you need 100% of your people contributing to culture by producing results and working with your organization’s core values in mind.  The Marines quickly identify recruits with issues in either area.  They attack the problems immediately and head on during basic training.  When things get difficult a Marine platoon is ready to achieve its objectives as a unit with no weak links.

Is your organization ready to thrive during a period of adversity with 100% of your people contributing? Or does your organization have people in it right now that are damaging your culture?  If so, identify why this is happening and develop a plan of action for each person.  Address these issues proactively.

3.) Culture comes first.  Team building comes after.  Often leaders today look to quick and easy fixes for their cultures.  Things like team building exercises can have value, but only after you have done the hard work required to build your culture.

The Marines have team building events like the Smoker, but they do this towards the end of basic training.  Every recruit is living the Marine Corps values at this point and well on their way to being proficient in the basic skill set of a U.S. Marine.  After the Marines culture is firmly in place, team building bonds the individuals together as a platoon and as Marines.

If you have also served as a U.S. Marine and are now in the business world, I would love to hear your thoughts on the Marine Corps culture and how it relates to how you lead your team.

What Is Threads Culture?

Threads Culture is a core values driven method of leadership, where how you work is always equally important as what you accomplish.  

Threads is a powerful idea, but it’s more than something abstract.  Threads Culture provides a framework for a motivated person to practically implement leadership within their team.  This includes all the advice, tools and training you need to get maximum results from yourself and from your team.

We have worked with 1,000’s of leaders and seen it happen in every size company, industry, management style and type of culture. The leader with the courage to implement Threads in their own life and within their team is always wildly successful.  A Threads leader gets to write their own ticket in today’s world where real leadership is in short supply.  

Before we go further, a lot of people ask where the idea for Threads Culture came from.  To understand Threads, you need to hear this story.  

A Day Like Any Other

Threads Culture was born on a day like any other day, a day like you’ve had in the past as well.  A supervisor came and knocked on my door.  It was one of those quiet knocks that makes you cringe.  You know it’s a significant problem knocking.  “Can I come in?” he said. Followed by,  “Can I close the door?”

As much as I wished I had another meeting or a phone call to take, I told him to come in and we sat down to talk.  He said,

“I need to fire an employee.” 

How he made the request was pretty interesting.  He said he “needed” to fire the employee. 

He proceeded to explain to me that he had an employee that was very talented.  In fact, one of the best he had ever seen at this job.  But, he also had a shitty attitude.  This employee wouldn’t work and help to support others.  He was unwilling to accept any new change this supervisor needed to bring to his department and this person negatively impacted his ability to lead the team.

I asked the supervisor, “Have you talked with him, and does he know where he stands?” He said that he had, and had documented the issues in his last performance review. 

You Know, They Know, We All Know

(While it’s uncomfortable to admit, this is an important part of the story.)

As the leader of the organization, I already knew exactly what the supervisor was talking about. I knew this employee was a problem. He’d been a problem for years. I knew all the reasons why this employee was a problem and I had done nothing about the situation.  At this point, I was being dishonest with everyone, including myself.  I was pretending that this was all news to me. I was acting Presidential. I was pretending to lead. 

My Wake Up Call

The next step was to call human resources and ask for the employee file. You know, the place we hope (wink wink) to find documentation of wrongdoing to justify termination. I’m hoping those signed performance reviews are going to lead us out of this situation.  

As I thumbed through three to four pages of boilerplate language, superlatives and scored criteria, I knew that the documentation I was looking for didn’t exist. In fact, the documentation we had, provided the exact opposite of what I hoped to find: The employee in question had been “Meeting Expectations.”

In my best Bill Lumbergh, I asked the supervisor, 

“How do you think it’s fair to tell this employee that they are meeting expectations, then turn around and fire them no more than three weeks later? To me that sounds more like a failure to communicate on our part.”

The supervisor took the review from my hands and he gave me a very important lesson.  

He showed me in this document where he rated the employee a “1” in attitude, a “1” in teamwork, a “1” in willingness to implement continuous improvement projects and a “1” in training and helping to onboard new employees.  At the same time he’d rated the employee very high, “4’s” and “5’s”, in other areas like job knowledge and productivity.

He said, “What did I do wrong here? What do you want me to do differently?”  Then he sat back and waited for my response.

I didn’t know what to say.  The supervisor scored this employee correctly on the review form and appeared to be communicating the issues, but here’s the message we were sending: 

“If you are good at your job and treat people like crap, it all averages out to meeting expectations and an annual pay increase.  1’s and 2’s added to 4’s and 5’s, then averaged together = 3 “Meeting Expectations”.” 

Until that moment, I had just taken it for granted and never questioned it.  It had always been this way. It’s how I was reviewed.  It’s how my parents were reviewed.  Since people started reviewing performance in the 1950’s, success at work was this administrative calculation that averaged together what you accomplished and how you did it.  

Yet, we don’t view human beings like that anywhere else in life, do we?  Does it work like this with your spouse? Your friendships?  Your kids? Of course not.

A Better Way To Lead

Having no good answer for this supervisor’s question, I told him that we were not going to fire the employee that day.  We were going to find a better way to communicate what was important to us.  

For the next three days I questioned everything. I thought back on lessons from my Dad growing up and my time in the Marine Corps. How did I let a situation like this develop in an organization I was leading? How could I explain something intangible like HOW to my supervisors?

I began to create and develop the leadership method that became Threads Culture.  This forever changed the way I would lead and manage people. 

We stopped hiding behind a process and communicated what we all knew to be true.  We acknowledged for the first time that how we behaved and our core values are just as important as what we accomplish for our job.  One can never rule over the other and they will never be averaged together again.  

A New Message 

I took the exact same rating criteria, but this time divided them into two categories:  Core Values (behavioral) and Results (performance).  An employee had a separate score in each area.  Both scores had to be acceptable in order to be successful and receive a raise.

The review for the employee the supervisor needed to fire, was no longer “Meeting Expectations”.  The same criteria and scores presented differently, now said exactly what they needed to say.

I talked with the supervisor and he loved it.  

“The review now matches exactly with the message I need to communicate… You are the best I’ve ever seen at this job, but the way you are treating the people on our team needs to change.  This is honest and fair.” 

Our HR manager didn’t like the change and was skeptical, but said she would love to use it on her husband. 

“He thinks that if he brings home his paycheck, mows the lawn and washes the cars, he doesn’t have to take me out for dinner. You know, to do the things he used to do before he tricked me into marrying him.” 

I was sold.  We decided to try this.

A New Outcome 

The three of us brought the employee in and we communicated differently for the first time.  Remember, exact same review criteria and scores as before, presented in an honest way.  This was no longer meeting expectations and we needed him to work on these specific areas.  

His response wasn’t what we expected.  He was angry.  He said things to us like, 

“You don’t pay me to treat people nice.  You pay me to do my job!”

I stuck to my guns and said, 

“No, we are changing what those expectations are specifically.  You are required to do both things now.  It’s not one averaged with the other anymore.”

And he quit on the spot!  He pounded his fists down on the table and insisted that’s not for him.  He gave us the double bird and walked out the door.  We all looked around at each other with a little bit of shock.  

And I’ll never forget when the supervisor said this to me.  

“It worked.  For the first time you see what I saw every single day.  And what the employees who worked with this person saw 10 times per day.  And for the first time I think you can understand how someone like that can hurt my ability to lead this team.”

Business Takes Care Of Itself

And he was right.  From that day forward we focused on Threads.  We changed the way we viewed people, the way we measured performance, and the expectations we had for individuals on our team.

What happened next was to be easily expected. That supervisor's department went from worst performing in our company, to the best within a matter of months.

I changed my focus as a leader.  As I implemented Threads throughout our company in the areas of hiring, pay, performance and communication, the results were remarkable.  Recruiting, turnover, sales growth, profitability and opportunities for people on our team during the next 10 years were in the 99th percentile for companies in our industry.

Since this time, I’ve purchased companies and co-founded a successful software start-up with similar results.  I’ve also provided training on Threads Culture to hundreds of other organizations.  All of my success in these varied environments has been due to leading with the Threads method.

This Is Your 25 Year Head Start

Threads Culture is a balanced, core values driven method of leading people. As you read on, be mindful of this central idea.  It’s going to be the foundation of every tool and piece of advice we offer at Threads HQ.  

This site has all the information I wish I knew when I started and had to learn the hard way.  If you are a young manager or even a future leader, this is your 25 year head start.  Everything you need to find success and implement these ideas in your life and career is right here.

The posts on this site are organized by chapter if you have a specific area of focus, but also in the order we would proceed if you are starting from scratch.

Before you get started, we recommend that you read this post linked below.  While anyone can have a level of success with Threads, those who do the best truly understand why the “how you do it” part is what’s in danger of being neglected in their leadership.

Core Values + Results Everywhere In Life... Except At Work

Then move on to the rest.  Lay out a schedule and start systematically implementing these things one at a time over the next year.  Along the journey, enjoy the amazing things your leadership produces for yourself and others.  

If you don’t see one of your questions addressed, contact us here and we will add the content of this site.

How To Manage Problems With Employee Side Hustles

If you have capable and confident employees, they will be growing their skills and be in high demand to be involved in other things.  They will get a steady stream of opportunities to participate in side hustles over the course of their careers with you.  The fact that they are talented and have the skills they do, makes them believe they can juggle it.  

This can happen to even the best long-term employees.  Nobody intends for a side hustle to turn into a problem.  They underestimate the commitment involved and the fact that their personal approach to work doesn’t allow for half-assed effort to be given to anything.

Here’s how a Threads focused manager handles the 4 types of side hustle situations, including:

1. An existing side hustle when hiring someone

2. An employee brings a side hustle they are considering to you for feedback

3. An employee’s side hustle is turning into a problem for your team

4. When you need to let someone go over their side hustle

What Is A Side Hustle? 

Side hustles are anything for gain, outside of your primary thing.    

The side hustle could be a legitimate hobby or part-time job that adds to the person’s life and their contribution to your team.  An employee’s side hustle that grows out of control also has the potential to upend your entire team.  

That Escalated Quickly

I’ve seen plenty of examples of side hustles that haven’t been a problem:

• “We make homemade salsa and sell it at the farmer’s market on the weekends.”

• “I help my father-in-law on the farm during planting and harvest.”

• “I provide freelance design work to help a few non-profits market their annual events.” 

• “I watch the grandkids when they are sick and can’t go to daycare or school.” 

… and plenty that have resulted in real problems for managers, employees and companies.  

• “I’m going to be the general contractor for the new house we are building!”

• “I’m selling these new life changing supplements!”

• “I’m helping a friend out with a marketing strategy for their start-up.  It’s just this one project.  They aren’t big enough for a full-time marketing person.”

Side hustles become a leadership problem that must be addressed when you end up providing full-time pay/benefits for substandard work.  If you and your team are consistently creating work arounds to finance a person’s start-up, passion, joy or fun, then it’s past time for you as a leader to do something about it.  

The Four Types Of Side Hustles

Here is how to manage through every type of side hustle situation you will face within your team.

(1) The Existing Side Hustle When Hiring

You can avoid some issues with side hustles by proactively communicating expectations before they become a problem.  When appropriate, you should include language in offer letters and handbooks that acknowledge your expectations on side hustles.  

This will give you an opportunity to discuss any existing side hustles the person may have in place before becoming a full-time hire.  If it is a problem before Day 1, you and the potential employee will know in advance, avoiding a situation that isn’t going to work out well for anyone.  

If you think the side hustle is going to be a problem, it’s best to trust your instincts.  If changes can’t be agreed to that work for both parties, don’t make the hire. 

Here is an example of offer language to proactively address side hustles in the hiring process:

• Free Lance / Consulting - Any freelance or outside consulting work needs the prior approval of organization leadership

(2) When The Employee Brings the Side Hustle To You

Sometimes an employee will bring a side hustle opportunity to you for feedback. In this case, it’s important to identify where the employee is in the side hustle process to handle it correctly. 

• Ask Clarifying Questions.   

 What is really going on here?  Not what they are telling you is going on, but what is really going on.  The employee isn’t bringing this up to you at the spur of the moment.  It will happen after they do a lot of thinking.  They have weighed the opportunity forward, backward and upside down.  Often they are already 10 miles down an 11 mile road… their decision is likely already made and they are looking for your approval.  The best policy:  Always start with questions.

• Listen Intently:  Advice or Justification?  

You need to find out why they are bringing this side hustle idea to you for discussion. There is a chance they want your honest feedback on it, but remember, most often the person will frame the side hustle in a way to justify the outcome they want.  Their decision may already be made. 

In that case, the goal of the conversation is to convince you that this side hustle won’t be an issue. When they are done, they might even have you wondering if it might even be good for the company.  Are they asking you for your honest opinion, or is it a presentation of the narrative and outcome they want to achieve?

Either way the employee isn’t likely trying to deliberately mislead or lie to you.  Think of the kid from A Christmas Story trying to convince his parents to get him the Red Ryder BB Gun.

If you are being sold on an idea vs. being asked, the employee already senses the risk.  This side hustle has a high percentage of turning into a problem and they know it. Pay close attention.  You need to understand what is really going on, so you can be honest.

• If The Employee Side Hustle Isn’t A Problem Say This

By this point, you should have a pretty good lay of the landscape.  If you feel good about the potential side hustle, the conversation can end pretty quickly with the following:  

“From what you are describing, this seems like it would have a minimal impact on your role here and the team. Let me know if something changes. Please keep in mind that I am accustomed to your current level of performance. So is the team around you. Your compensation is based on those things. I will keep an eye on it and let you know if it becomes a concern for me.”  

Thank them for letting you know… AND ACTUALLY KEEP AN EYE ON IT!

• If You Have Concerns, Ask This Question

Wait until the end of the employee’s side hustle presentation and ask this question:  “What do you want from me today?”  Their response will be somewhat taken aback, usually replying with a “what do you mean?” 

I would then reply with this: “Are you seeking my approval?”  After they answer, do not reply to the employee at that moment.  Tell them, “I need to take some time to honestly think about it.  Let’s sit back down and talk about it.”  Then schedule a meeting with them a couple days out to sit back down.  Taking this time will serve two purposes: 

1. This allows you to consider possible outcomes using your experience as someone who knows them, their role and what it takes to be successful on your team. 

2. It gives the employee time to consider what they have asked you to approve. 

Do not underestimate the value of this second purpose. If you have concerns, state them clearly in the follow-up meeting.  Look beyond this employee and their side hustle, considering their co-workers and your team.  Advocate for the people who will likely be dealing with their change in performance.

• But If I Say It’s A Bad Idea, I’ll Risk Losing Them!

You will be tempted to tell them what they want to hear vs. what they need to hear.  Here is how you will rationalize it, and the top three answers are on the board:

1. This person is a great employee. Even a reduced performance is still pretty good.

2. This person is highly responsible. If they have a problem, they will make an adjustment.

3. As an entrepreneur or manager myself, how can I say no?

 Actually, none of those answers should be on the board. The simple idea here is: Don’t rationalize and tell the truth. 

Still not convinced?  Get your courage up by taking a moment and imagine a future where their side hustle has spun out of control.  You have to tell them you are letting them go, because their performance isn’t where it needs to be.  How would you feel looking at this person, in that moment, knowing you never gave them honest feedback?  

• Keep Notes Of The Conversation

You should keep detailed notes of what was said or promised in this initial conversation in your  manager notebook or a feedback software system.  If the side hustle does turn into a problem, you will need these details to keep it fact based.  If you aren’t currently in the practice of keeping manager notes throughout the year, read up now on why you should start.

(3) When The Side Hustle Becomes A Problem

The third case is when an employee side hustle has already developed into a problem situation.  

You know the side hustle has become a problem and you need to take action when you first start hearing complaints about the side hustle or seeing it is negatively affecting others on your team.  

If you are hearing about or noticing a decline in performance, effort and communication.  Then imagine what it is like working with the person day-to-day.  Things are already much worse than it appears from your position 1 or two steps removed as a manager

With a problematic side hustle, you can’t just wait for the situation to play itself out.  As the team feels that this individual is focused more on their own personal side hustle than the team, the negative effects will start to spread like wildfire. 

It’s possible this was something you gave the employee approval on or it could be something you were not aware was developing.  In either case, your leadership path out of the problem will follow the same framework.

• Conversation Must Be Fact Based

Your intervention with this person must be based in fact, nothing touchy feely.  An “I feel like you are spending too much time on this…” conversation will not go well.  If you took notes from a previous conversation about the side hustle expectations or specific details on how their performance has slipped, re-read those notes prior to the meeting.  This will refresh your memory and keep feelings from clouding the conversation.

• It’s The Performance Change, Not The Side Hustle

You have to make sure your conversation is performance based. What has changed for this person?  At this point, you have a theory, but you really don’t know for sure.  The objective is to not attack the side hustle or make assumptions about the impact of what they are doing on the side. The reason for their performance suffering is irrelevant.  Try something like this:

“I’m talking about where you were as an employee, your own expectations based on how you have always performed for us in the past.  I’m just trying to find out what the problem is.  I don’t know if the extra stuff you have going on is really playing a role or not, but I do know your performance isn’t where it used to be.  My question for you is “What’s changed?”

• Keep It Focused On Them, No Comparisons To Others

When a good employee knows they are doing less than they should, they will usually start comparing themselves to others.  They know they are in the wrong in this case and often will try to defend themselves using examples from other people on the team.  Make sure you keep the conversation focused on the comparison to their previous self and leave others out of it.  For example:

“Right now I’m just looking at your performance today vs. where it used to be in the past. I’m not comparing you to others, only what I know you are capable of and what you’ve shown all of us in the past.”

• Show Them Some Empathy

Realize that if their performance is unraveling at work because of a side hustle that’s grown out of control, then it probably is negatively affecting their home life and other areas as well.  They didn’t intend on the side hustle taking over their life.  They may feel that they already are fighting a war on two fronts and your conversation is opening a third.  Your goal here is to make sure they know how important they are to the company, the team and you.  I would tell them:

“It sounds like you are in a really difficult situation.  We need you and the team needs you to get back to where we know you can be.”

• Keep Notes and Follow Up

The employee will likely promise things will get better after a specific date or after an upcoming event happens that will ease the time commitment and stress of the side hustle.  You will likely see at least a short-term performance improvement as the employee gives a temporary boost in effort to try and put out this fire or stop it from spreading.

Unless the underlying dynamics of the side hustle change, that boost in effort will be temporary as the employee will still be stretched too thin.  A follow-up conversation would have a similar format.  You will need the notes to reference the previous conversation and continue to keep it fact based. 

If the employee is able to make the necessary changes, you will have successfully navigated out of a very challenging situation.  After performance has improved, make sure to follow-up with this employee and let them know that you have noticed, “It’s nice to have you back!”

(4)  When The Side Hustle Needs To Become Their Full-Time Job 

In this case, you have already had a conversation or two with the employee about the performance change. You have seen short-term improvements as their focus shifts temporarily back to their “primary thing”, yet the dynamics of their side-hustle keep pulling them away.  

As a leader, how do you know when you need to let them go make their side hustle their new full-time job? 

• Will It Improve?  Do Your Own Analysis

The employee will still honestly believe that improvement with the side hustle problem is always just around the corner.  “It will get better as soon as ________ happens.”  No it won’t. That is what they need to believe in their situation to keep going.  Don’t take their word for when it will get better.  Do your own assessment.

Do your best to honestly separate yourself from the emotions of the situation and look at it objectively.  Ask yourself these questions about this employee and the side hustle:

1. How easy is it for this employee to unwind or disentangle from the side hustle… could they get out even if they wanted to? 

2. What is the size of the money and time investment is the side hustle relative to their position with your team?

3. Running a back of the envelope calculation, how much more time and money are needed until the side hustle is done or the employee knows it will be successful?

4. What will happen to your team’s dynamics during this time?

If there is no resolution to the side hustle in sight and/or your team will be rubbed raw from covering for this person’s side hustle, then unfortunately it is probably time to part ways.

• What To Say… Why It’s Good For You And Good For Them

If you are going to be your own boss and have your own business, there is no way you will ultimately be successful unless you are 100% focused.  In these cases, you have to push them out there and they need to find a way to be fully committed to the side hustle.  If they are unwilling to choose a workable path for themselves, you are going to have to do it for them. What do they have at stake?  Everything.  Here’s an example of what you should tell them: 

“It takes 100% commitment to make a business successful and be an entrepreneur. What I’m going to tell you is going to be tough to hear, but what I’m telling you is what you need to hear. As we have discussed in the past, my respect for entrepreneurs is unmatched. It takes a huge commitment to be successful. It also takes a huge commitment from everyone here to be successful in this business too. At this point the effort you are giving here is not working for me, or for our team and we are going to have to let you go. No animosity. No hard feelings. Nothing but respect. I hope you go out there and become the biggest success you can be.”

Beware of the Side Hustle

The next time you hear someone on your team talking about a new side hustle with all consuming excitement, pay attention.  Reference this chapter and be proactive.  If a leader starts to handle this type of problematic side hustle situation well up-front, the options you have to manage through it down the road are almost unlimited.  The longer you decide to look the other way and hope for the best, the termination of the employee becomes more and more likely.

Tell Stories To Make People Remember Core Values

Core Value Stories Exercise: Tell Stories To Get People To Remember Core Values

I’ve been in 100’s of companies and organizations in the last ten years. I’m always there for the same reason… Core Values and Culture. Our sessions always start out with me asking the team if they have core values. The looks around the room are always the same: 

I know it’s a tough position to put people in. The company spent $1,000’s bringing in consultants, who in turn brought in examples from Zappos and convinced you that your core values should line up to some Silicon Valley tech company with a captivating CEO. Afterall, don’t you want to be successful like them? Now, someone else’s core values hang on your wall and no one knows them outside of “ummmm, I think it’s like integrity and teamwork?”

My point is this: Many organizations have core values plastered on their walls, advertising and websites. Yet no one within those same walls actually knows what you are talking about, and you aren't alone.

Look at this list of core values below.  Set the timer on your phone for 2 minutes, close this tab in your browser and do something else.  Spend a couple minutes checking your email, sending some text messages, looking at social media or whatever else you do for a distraction.  How many of these core values do you remember after the 2 minute timer goes off?  If you do happen to remember a couple of the core values listed, do they actually mean anything to you?  Will you remember them a week from now?

Teamwork

Ownership Attitude

Integrity

Safety

Family

Communication

Now read this story about one of the core values from the list.

 Family - Above all else, we are family. Be willing to sacrifice and care for each other.

 I remember a story about Family.  Back in the early days when this place was just getting started, every month was a struggle.  We were growing and taking risks to expand.  Money was tight.  The location we were opening was going to take an extra 2 months because we were waiting on approvals from the city.  My partner and I realized we weren’t going to be able to make payroll next Friday.  We hired a staff and had them ready to go. We promised them. Out of options, we decided to flip a coin and the loser was going to sell their truck to cover the upcoming 2 payrolls.  My partner lost and sold his truck.  We made payroll, opened the location and are still here today.  Without him being willing to do that, none of us would be here right now. That’s what families do when faced with tough decisions. Truth be told all these years later… I wish it was me that would have lost that flip.

How about now?  Does this value mean something to you and will you remember it?  I bet you will.  You may catch yourself thinking about this core value story at a random time tonight or a week from now.  I heard this story 5 years ago while working with a client and I still remember this core value and this company like it was yesterday.

Now that you have done the work to develop your organization’s core values (link to core values exercise), telling good stories will be the key to making them stick.  Core value stories will help define your culture in a positive way that creates lasting pride and confidence in your team.

The Core Value Stories Exercise below is the best way to develop stories around your core values and communicate them throughout the organization.

When To Do The Core Value Stories Exercise

To get the core values stories right, you need to make sure you have the core values right. If not, the exercise below will not work as intended. We would highly recommend you take a couple hours to do the Core Values Exercise (link to core values exercise) with some key members of your team as part of this process. The advantages to starting with the Core Values Exercise are:

1. You Have The Core Values Right.   You can be 100% certain that  your core values, and ultimately the stories, are authentic and come from the heart.

2. Have The Right People In the Room.  The people you want to gather the core value stories are the same people as the Core Values Exercise, so there is a natural segway.

3. Everyone Will Be Warmed Up. If your team is in the zone with this, some of the stories individuals will share can be quite emotional and surprising. Sometimes the owners or leaders are even unaware of the stories.

If you do decide to do the stories exercise as a stand-alone with your team, picking the right timing is key. If it isn’t something you would normally do as a leader, it can come across as phony… “Hey everyone, I’d like to discuss my most personal stories about the company and have you do the same.”..... Yeah, they aren’t going to like anything about it and it could turn into a weird story in it’s own right. Here are some tips to keep it real:

1. Have A Valid Reason.  It could be a mini-crisis like a key person leaving, a business issue like high turnover, when you messed something up and need to debrief as a team or when someone did something really amazing that exemplified a core value.  There needs to be a logical reason as to “why now”.  It could also be part of a larger team training day that will get people in the right mindset.

2. Be a Leader.  Have a couple stories prepared yourself that exemplify the core values in your heart and mind.  Why did you start the business?  What is a key turning point or obstacle the team had to overcome?  Start the process yourself and set the tone with the type of story you hope others will want to share.

3. Be Honest About What They Mean To You. You will likely have a strong tendency to think of core values in a marketing or external mindset of what sounds right. Make an effort to drop this idea. Your core value stories are for the people on your team, not for anyone else. If a new person was joining your team tomorrow, what would you want them to know about what it means to be a part of your organization?

Choosing The Right People For The Core Values Stories

The right people for this exercise are not always obvious at a quick glance.  To find the right people ask yourself this question:

“If your company was forced to close tomorrow and you had to leave and start the organization again from scratch, who are the 5-10 people you would be calling first?”   

These will be the people that most strongly fit your culture.  They will all be high performers with great results.  They instinctively understand and live by the core values.  If they weren’t you wouldn’t be picking them first if you had to start fresh!

Here are a couple of guidelines to keep in mind about selecting the right group for the core values stories.

1. It’s Not Just The Leadership Team.  We have seen many organizations where a member of the leadership team is not fully in tune with the culture or is thinking in terms of an organization where they used to work.  It’s possible too that you have a leader who is not a fit with the culture and would derail the exercise.

2. It Can Be People At All Levels.  As long as they are the right individuals, their job titles or level of responsibilities will not matter for the purposes of this exercise.  One of the best core values stories I’ve ever heard came from a diesel mechanic in a trucking company.

3. Choose Highest Combined Core Values and Results Scores. If you have a review system that gives you scores for both elements of culture (link to culture article), make a short list of the employees with the highest combined scores for both core values and results across the entire organization. This could help you identify someone who may have been forgotten or it will at least confirm that your list of employees for this exercise is correct.

1 - Starting The Core Value Stories Exercise

If you are starting the Core Values Stories as a standalone exercise, ask people if they know the core values.  It is very likely that nobody will know the core values or think they are meaningless at some level.  To break the ice, be honest about what core values have become.  Don’t be fake.

Take time to remind people to make sure phones are down, pencils down.  Distractions need to be removed, so people have space to actually think

Then (start here if you did the core values exercise) display the core values you either just came up with or have.  Tell people, “Convince me this is a core value.”  

Most likely nobody in the room will tell a story and the reasons given won’t be convincing.  Then you can make your case.  “The only way you can convince me is to tell a story.” If someone jumps in, great.  If not, now would be a good time for one of the stories you had down on your list to set the tone.

After the story, a message about why they were chosen can be helpful:

“You were picked to help with this because you are aligned with the core values and are great at what you could do.  You are valuable to us. We know you could work anywhere.  Why did you choose this place?  Why us?”

Then stop. The uncomfortable silence is necessary. Your role at this point should move towards listening, asking questions and facilitating the conversation. Your most precious and important assets are about to tell you why they work for you. I’ve actually shed a tear or two as this unfolds. It’s a beautiful thing.

2 - Which Core Value Stories To Choose

The key for choosing which stories will most strongly connect your team, both current and future, to the core values is to pay attention to the others in the room.  When others are talking, look at the faces as the rest of the group is listening to the story.  Some people’s stories will not connect.  That’s OK.  They want to talk or they may just be getting warmed up.  It is all part of the process.

As the leader of the group, really look for what really gets peoples’ attention.  What is said that actually stirs emotion?  Let them guide you to what’s real and most important.  Smiles, laughter and people trying to hide emotion. It’s obvious and you will know it when you see it.

3 - Closing The Core Value Stories Exercise

Thank people for sharing, maybe even follow with another email later to individuals who did share telling them about what it meant to you. After people leave the room write the stories down in rough form so you have a record of what was said in detail while it is still fresh. The best stories don’t require detailed notes, because you already know them after hearing them once.

4 - Communicating Core Value Stories To Your Team

Your Core Values are the unwritten rules that guide the organization and the stories will connect people emotionally to the Core Values.  They need to spread beyond the room that did the exercise.  The rest of the organization needs to understand the core values in this way and so do new employees.

Ask permission from the people who took part in the exercise to share the stories with others.  Always respect their wishes if it is a personal story to them and they choose not to be comfortable.

Once you have permission, here are some practical ways to make sure the stories and the core values spread:

1. Employee Onboarding.  Adapt the presentation above and make it part of your employee onboarding process.  If possible, invite 5 of the people from the exercise to tell their stories related to each core value as part of the presentation.  If you are unable to do this (ex- multiple locations, too many new employee trainings, etc.), select other employees who you believe to also exemplify the culture to share their stories as part of the presentation or make a core values video that includes the stories from these people in their own words. PRO TIP: make this YOUR welcome to new employees. Tell them yourself. Do the intro for your people telling the stories. STAY in the room. Listen. Watch. Let everyone see how important this is to you.

2. Do Not Automate.  Many of your HR processes are best automated for efficiency.  This is not one of them.  If you want the core values stories to resonate, there has to be that moment in time where people slow down and are able to connect with the individuals telling the story.  

3. Don’t Fake It.  If you are a new organization and don’t have the stories to build on yet, then don’t make them up.  Be on the lookout for the stories as you grow.  If you are uncertain that your core values sound good to outsiders, don’t change them.  You are better off telling people exactly who you are.

Use A Variety Of People. Your team needs to see that the core values stories aren’t just marketing or an exercise done by the leadership team that has no practical value to them. They need to hear the core value stories from a diverse group of people at different levels and in different roles. They need to be able to see themselves in the stories.

Here is a presentation template that you can use to help structure your introduction to the core values for your employees.

Tell Your Core Values Stories

As an individual, for others to know you well and form a genuine connection, they have to understand your story.  Companies have to tell their stories too.  An organization is more than just the stories of product launches, financial success and strategic plans, but more importantly the stories of what actually made your organization “feel” like it does today.

As you tell these stories, you will bond your team together behind a shared set of core values. You will begin to attract others who want to be a part of what you are building.

One Last Thing...

If you listened to the wrong people before... If you got the core values wrong... If you tried to use core values as leverage... If you made mistakes in the past... If you wish you’d read this 2 years ago... DON'T LET IT STOP YOU FROM GETTING IT RIGHT! 

Start today (link to core values exercise). Admit it.  Show some humility and be genuine.  All education costs something.  Sometimes admitting that you got it wrong the first time, is the first step in getting it right this time.

The Best Compensation Model (Pay for Culture)

Me: “Why did you come work for us? You were at your last job for 6 years and you seemed to be enjoying it.”

Recent Employee: “I trained a new employee at our company doing my same job and I found out* they were making $20,000 more than me. When I asked my boss about it, he said he couldn’t give me a raise. That person came in at that salary and has 4 kids to feed (while I was single). As much as I liked my job and my friends, I just couldn’t work there anymore after that.”

* They always find out

Good employees won’t leave for just a little more money, but they 100% will if your compensation system isn’t treating them fairly. I can guarantee that, unintentionally, you are driving along with at least one or two, but probably many employees with the compensation check engine light “On” right now.

Compensation problems happen individually and over time.

• It’s the person you promoted to a leadership role that didn’t make it as a leader, who you reassigned and kept their pay the same.

• It’s that person who is killing it and their compensation hasn’t kept pace with their responsibilities.

• It’s the employee who has been in the same job for 10 years compounding at 3% annually, who is now the highest paid employee in that area by default.

• It’s the person who you urgently hired recently for way more money than members of your existing team.

In the moment, you did what you had to do. Each decision you made seemed right at the time.

The problem is that these independent decisions, when looked at collectively and over time, can appear anywhere from inappropriate at best to outright discriminatory at worst. Most leaders who find themselves in real trouble in the area of compensation, likely didn’t get there with one decision. In fact, it was probably unintentionally, with many decisions stacking up in the absence of an overarching plan.

So, if decisions and situations like the examples above are compounding to make a potentially serious problem, you should be doing some urgent maintenance. Let’s take this compensation problem to the shop, tomorrow or this weekend and get it fixed.

What may have been a 50-200 hour project can be completed in an afternoon or one day max depending on the size of your team. We have already done the heavy lifting for you by providing a fully built out and tested model that incorporates the feedback from dozens of organizations. There’s no excuse to not make this a priority!

Download the compensation model that fits your team size (25, 50, 100, or 200 employees) below and let’s get started.

The Two Simple Factors For A Transparent and Fair Compensation Plan

Your compensation plan should be built on the foundation of the following two factors:

1. Market Based Compensation For Each Job Title. The market will determine the potential range of compensation for each role in your organization.

2. Pay For Performance. The strength of the employee’s individual performance in their role will determine where they fall in the market based range and their rate of increase within that range.

It’s that simple. We recommend calling your model something like “Pay For Performance” because that’s what people will understand. You know from our previous posts though, we are actually going to be paying for culture (Core Values + Results). We will always be requiring both performance/results and core values behavioral measurements to be acceptable for every individual to receive a raise.

Step #1 - Export Your Existing Employee Compensation

Your payroll software or your payroll provider should be able to pull an export of this information for you. Specifically you will need:

• Employee Name

• Employee’s Job Title

• Employee’s Annual Base Pay

An additional, non-required field that can be very helpful for analysis is:

• Employee’s Manager

Once you have this info you can paste it into the first tab of the Threads compensation model.

Step #2 - Enter Your Current Pay Range For Every Job Title (Minimum, Maximum and Median)

If I had to hire someone today to fill this role, what is the minimum and maximum I would pay?  The pay range for the job title is market based, so you should complete this step independently, without looking at the existing compensation for anyone at your team.  

There are numerous ways to develop your pay ranges from paid or free sources.  If you don’t currently have this information, take a few minutes to read up on How To Find Accurate Market Based Compensation Levels.  Free, accurate wage data is more readily available than anytime before.  If you need some extra motivation to finish this project, remember that your employees increasingly have access to this data too.

The “Base Median” column is optional.  The median column will default to an average of the “Base Minimum” and “Base Maximum” if you leave it empty.

If you aren’t exactly sure on some job titles, fill in your best estimates.  Getting reasonably close with an estimate is perfectly fine to start.  You can always refine this information later and you should periodically benchmark your compensation range estimates at least annually.

Step #3 - Enter Your Employee Review Scores

Export your employee review scores from the review system you are using and enter them into the compensation model.  The model has two columns for review scores:  (1) Core Values and (2) Results.  You are separating the behavioral criteria from the performance criteria because success in both areas needs to be required to get a raise.

You may have a review system that requires both of these measurements and this step will be easy.  If your review system mixes and averages these criteria together, you will need to separate them.  For example, your reviews may have a section related to core values or behavioral based items and also a section related to performance (ex- goals, KPI’s etc.)  

The compensation model bases scores off of a 10 point scale, with a minimum of a 5 point score out of 10 to be eligible for a raise.  If your review scores are based on 1-5, just double them to convert to the 10 point model scale.  The 10 point scale is used in the model to get some differentiation between employees who are performing well, but are tightly clustered around “3 - Meeting Expectations” on a 5 point scale.

If you don’t have a review system, a system that uses non-scoring methods or if your review system is just worthless :-), here is a process to help you quickly and accurately estimate review scores for everyone in less than 30 minutes.

Step #4 - Adjust Your Raise Increase Percentages to Fit Your Payroll Budget

Now that you’ve entered your information, the compensation model will do the hard work of determining the wage increase amounts for everyone on your team.  

The only adjustments you need to make are to the standard increase percentages at the bottom of the sheet.  Your overall payroll increase is highlighted in RED.  You can adjust the increase percentages until your team’s total payroll increase fits within your budget for the year.

The model will also give you some pay recommendations outside of the standard percentages for most employees.  Some of these may seem incorrect at first, but look closely at the amounts and reasoning in the model and read Step 5 below before making any changes.  These non-standard increases are the compensation imbalances that you need to develop a plan to address.

Step #5 - Develop A Plan For Any Non-Standard Compensation Changes

The majority of your employees should be in the standard increase categories.  These employees are being paid fair market based rates for their work and their increases should match their contributions to your organization.  These employees will generally be satisfied that they are being compensated fairly.

You need to pay very close attention to the non-standard increases or employees who are not receiving raises today and develop an action plan to communicate with each individual.  These situations are the people you are in danger of losing or the people that in the past may have been rewarded when they should not have been.

Here are some sample plans to handle the common compensation problems you have:

• High Performer Who Is Underpaid And At Risk Of Resigning

• Solid Employee Who Exceeds The Pay Range For Their Job

• Employee Who Needs To Improve Their Performance To Qualify For A Raise

Step #6 - Communicate with Confidence

What you are doing makes sense.  It is consistent.  It’s fair.  It’s simple enough that you can explain it and people will understand it.  

This gives you the confidence you need to communicate with your supervisors and ideally everyone in your organization about compensation.  It will build support for you as a leader and create trust in the culture of your organization.

If you have questions or potential issues with the compensation model (commission based structure, profit sharing model, etc.) check out our Comp Model FAQ.

If you have suggestions for the model, email us here.

How to Retain an Employee Who Just Resigned

How are you feeling right now manager? We know, it feels terrible. The training, their potential and the work they were doing… and that is only the beginning. Then you must post, interview, hire and retrain. It is a disaster, it is going to be expensive, and you have two weeks to try and fix it.  What can you offer or say to get them to reconsider?  

1. Find out why they are leaving. Their first reason will likely be the easiest and most simple way to not cause hard feelings.  Really find out why. 

2. Be honest with them. Chances are, them leaving has something to do with your lack of action or follow through. Admit your mistakes. Humility is important.

3. Ask them if there is ANY chance to keep them. If there is a chance, focus only on what you learned from item number 1 above.

4. Do what you are going to do FAST. You do not have 2 weeks; you have 1 day. Every day that goes by, leaving becomes easier for the employee.

That Is What You Wanted To Know, Here Is What You Need To Know

We got some good news and bad news for you.  The bad news first… you messed up and took them for granted.  They have another offer in hand.  Realistically at this point it is probably too late and there is nothing you can do to get them to stay.  I know this isn’t what you want to hear right now, but it’s the truth.  

Now for the good news… the crisis is giving you an opportunity to focus on and fix the compensation issues or other problems that got you making this search today.  Remember, people leaving for more money is a symptom of a bigger problem you have been too busy to tackle.  One day of work now to not have to go through this again.

Also, if you are new to Threads, all the steps, models, etc. are free to read and download because we want to help you with your culture.  Everything you need to solve this problem starts right here in our compensation plan.   

1. Why You Won’t Be Able To Get Them To Stay

If the employee has put their two weeks in with a better offer, they know two things:

1. What they are currently worth on the market

2. That you did not value them enough to pay them what they were worth

This is why matching the offer, beating the offer, following through on promises you made but never kept, and coming up with a career plan for them now is wasting your time.  They will listen and possibly even appreciate the confirmation of what their new offer has already told them.  They know though, that you are doing it for yourself / what you are losing, and not ultimately for them.  If it was for them, you would have done this already.

2.  How To Handle The Resignation Like a Boss, NOT Bill

Once the person is truly leaving, and you can’t prevent it… stay classy.  Be honest, take ownership and apologize if you would have been willing to pay them more now than before they put in their two weeks.   

Your conversation should go something like this:

“We are really sorry to be losing you.  We messed up and apologize for not following through on (ex - raising your pay at the rate your contributions increased, giving you a more defined path to partner, etc.).  We should have done right by you when we had the chance.  It sounds like you have a great opportunity.  We are happy for you.  If there is anything we can do let us know and please stay in touch.”    

At the very least they will respect your honesty.  Doing this will keep the door open for the future if you think there is a chance you will want to hire them back. Their new employer is most likely going to make the same mistake you just did with their compensation a few years down the road.  

When that happens, you will have done the work to either show them you’ve learned your lesson, or you will have already attracted someone better.

3.Stop Making Excuses About Why They Left

Many managers we talk to suffer through this turnover problem over and over and start making excuses.... “Those damn millennials have no loyalty and work ethic,” “This is just a position with high turnover,” “This other company has benefits we can’t match.”  None of that’s true in our companies, and it doesn’t have to be for you either.

In this case it was your compensation plan.  It could also be that they are leaving their manager or that you knowingly have them working with a rotten manager that you are too scared to deal with. DING! DING! DING!… One of these 2 reasons is often the real reason they are leaving.

Every generation and group of people in society all want the same things at the core.  All of these turnover problems can be fixed with a small time commitment and some courage from you.  No excuses.  Excuses are for cowards.

4. Identify The Underpaid People Who Are Leaving Next

The next person to leave your organization because of compensation will be a solid employee who is paid at the lower end of the pay range for their job title.  This is true because they are a good employee and will be in demand in many other places.  They currently don’t know their worth on the market or they do know and are being patient with counting on you to recognize it.  Either way the clock is ticking.

While this seems obvious, I am willing to bet you have 1 or 2 or more employees in this situation within your organization right now and until today you weren’t actively doing anything about it.  Changing jobs is disruptive, risky and a pain in the ass.  These employees probably don’t want to leave, unless you make them.  

To identify these people who are at risk of leaving next:

1. Develop accurate market based compensation levels for every job title you have

2. List your employees and their compensation

3. Flag the people below the median compensation for their job title

Now that you have your list, you can decide to win the battles months before they are ever fought.

5.  Pay People What They Are Worth, Without Them Having To Ask!

Now that you have your list of underpaid employees compared to their market rates, identify the ones that you would be very sad about if they left tomorrow.

Make a plan for each underpaid employee to communicate their value to you and your team.  This may include discussions of career planning, but should definitely include a raise to where they should be paid or a clear plan to get them there over time.  Great employees, regardless of tenure, need to be at least equal to the MEDIAN WAGE of the range for the position they have. 

But, but, I don’t have the money to pay great people more?  LOL, of course you do… you are just spending it on the wrong people or things.

As bad as you felt having that resignation conversation yesterday, you will feel 180 degrees opposite after rewarding these employees unexpectedly.  These conversations will motivate you as much as they motivate the employees who are now being treated fairly.

And guess what?  Your action today will also fix your recruiting problems when these employees tell their friends working other places.