It is time to move from Command & Control to Purpose & Trust
Purpose
If you haven't already done so, do yourself the favor and watch the first 5 minutes of this fantastic TED talk by Simon Sinek.
It may also inspire you to watch the rest of the video!
The essence of purpose - WHY do you get out of your beds in the morning (in your company) and WHY should anyone else care?
If you can answer this question, then keep up the GREAT work and get out there and make a difference!
If you can't answer this question immediately and without hesitation, this is a strong indicator that you would value from help to formulate and live your company WHY.
Another video with a powerful message on purpose is Daniel Pinks Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us.
Surprise, surprise - it's not actually money!
He comes to three conclusions - Purpose, Autonomy and Mastery - but I'll let him tell the story!
Trust - society and neuroscience
Trust
Trust is one of the foundational elements of society. Our ancestors realized that if they could establish a relationship of trust in a group, then they could sleep at night and someone else would protect them from the wild animals or other groups of people. Being able to sleep well at night made them better able to work well during the day, hunting and gathering.
Today societies and cultures that have a higher level of intrinsic trust are wealthier. It takes trust to do business and the higher the level of trust, the more business can be created increasing the wealth of that society.
Trust is just not something that we have been very good at bringing into the work environment. We have internally run our businesses according to a paradigm of command and control - and this since the industrial revolution.
Companies that understand to build working environments based on trust will be more successful in the future.
And the biology behind trust is truly fascinating!
Oxytocin - a neurochemical - is released in the brain when certain things happen - giving us a feeling of trust.
When science and business meet we realize that our actions actually drive (or inhibit) the ability to establish trusting relationships. The challenge for business now is to take this information and transform it into knowledge and action so that we can build trusting business relationships - internally and externally.