12 By Chad Counts and Robert Counts Websites: Chad: crcounts@gmail.com. Cell: 512-963-4626 www.cbcdashboard.com www.countsbusinessconsulting.com. Robert: robert@sbcglobal.net. Cell: 512-653-6915 Robert Counts Chad Counts Auto Recyclers ToolBox® How to do it How to lead people and manage processes Most companies succeed or fail based on their leaders. The better the leader and the better their focus, communication, and inclu- sion of employees, the better the results. This article is based on that statement and the following two premises: Ÿ You lead people toward doing the right things. Ÿ You manage processes toward doing things right. The best way to lead people is to live out your values. Why? Because its natural, its not a strategy to get more out of your employees for less. Employees have very good BS sniffers. The values you want your company to possess will be the values that you live out. If you live out these values then it is much eas- ier to influence your employees to apply these values in their daily work. Lead People Customer First For example, “customer first” is our guiding value. We believe it. It comes natural to us when we are making deci- sions or making goals and plans. It’s the lens by which we view our business. It’s Why input from employees? Because we are going to ask them to live these values in their work each day and if they are not going to buy in, you might as well know now. Values devel- oped this way takes out the ego. It allows decisions to be made based on what is good for the customer and not what is just good for me! It is a value we always bring up when we are working with a company to develop a vision statement and to set val- ues for the company. We also strongly encourage that vision and value state- ments have input from employees. not original with us, but we understand why it is a good value to have. It helps get you through those sticky decisions. We simply have to answer that one ques- tion, “Is this good for our customer?” This is especially true if the employ- ees have no input in developing the pro- cesses. For example, it should become easier to answer why you would or would not process a part, or resolve a conflict, etc., a certain way based upon how does that process support the company and department values. Manage Processes If your processes support your values it is much easier to get involvement and buy-in from your employees. The answer to why they or you would perform in a certain manner is supported by company values. Values tend to be more internal- ized than processes, but processes built on values tend to be owned by those that are responsible for them. Focus of Responsibility This refers to ownership. Who owns this process is the answer to who is responsible. If you create the process then you own it. Ever wonder, why your employees don't follow procedures? Most time they don’t own them, they only rent them when it’s convenient or when it is demanded! Processes based on doing the “right thing” makes it easier to do “things right.” Anyone in the company can call out anyone else based on the values and whether the work that was done matches those values. People who own the process will call out those not following the pro- cess. Laugh or Cry That’s code for “Better Call Robert or Chad at Counts Business Consulting, immediately!” “Employees have very good BS sniffers. The values you want your company to possess will be the values that you live out.”