The March 2010 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine includes an interesting and informative article written by Jason Daley entitled, Creating a Culture of Excellence.  The tag line to the title is, It Means Something Different For Every Company, But For All Of Them The Key To Success Is The Same: The Person At The Top.  If you are a leader who truly wants to improve and hone your leadership skills, I recommend reading this article.  You cannot help but find at least a few good ideas to evaluate and possibly implement.

According to this article, research proves that between 50 and 90 percent of organizational change initiatives fall flat.  Think about that!  Cumulatively speaking, hundreds of millions of hours and billions of dollars are invested in organizational change initiatives every year, just in the United States alone.  50 to 90 percent of organizational change initiatives fall flat.  Wow!  What a waste of time and money... not to mention the psychological and attitudinal impact on the employees, customers and suppliers of those organizations!

The article provides several examples of organizations that have implemented their change initiatives very well, stayed focused and learned that leading people is the key.

The article also provides a listing of 10 Companies Getting It Right, along with information regarding what each of these companies is doing... right.  The information regarding these 10 companies was provided by the Great Place to Work Institute, the organization that researches and produces the annual listing of Best Companies to Work for in America.

Amy Lyman, the institute’s co-founder and director of corporate research says;

• The main thing all these companies have in common is that their leaders and managers are visible and openly convey how valuable each employee is to the company.  The result is a high degree of trust, which makes people commit more to their jobs.  In the top 10, more than 90 percent of employees said they trusted their companies.  That’s phenomenal.

I highly recommend reading and studying this article.  You cannot help but find at least a few good ideas to evaluate and possibly implement.  As the author states, “If you want to create a culture of excellence, it pays to take a look at the companies that do it best.”  You can purchase the magazine at any good book or news store, or find it online.

If you have accessed other great sources in your quest to Create a Culture of Excellence, please email me and, with your permission, I will share that information in future articles and presentations.

Copyright © 2010 by Dan Nielsen