I approve this message.
Wait, wait…
I don’t mean I condone the message.
Put the pitchforks down.
The biggest challenge I see in organisations of all sizes – from tiny CICs and micro businesses through to huge blue chip companies – is the difference between what you say and what you do.
The psychological contract we form is based on the dream.
If an organisation says, “We’re customer centric and obsessed about service” but then the everyday experience shows something different, we feel, psychologically-speaking, that we’ve been sold a dud.
Stuart Machin is being transparent.
Now I can make an informed decision if that environment is for me or not.
He is walking his talk*
How many businesses claim to be like Anita Roddick or Richard Branson but, in reality, are like Stuart or Elon?
So yes; I approve this message.
We need leaders to be more honest about what it’s really going to be like working in their sphere.
Then we can be more honest about signing up – or walking on by.
* There is a separate discussion about whether the culture Machin is creating will encourage the behaviours that support his strategy being delivered.
This, I will wager, has not been considered at all.
Which is why he believes a “work hard, play hard; all hands to the pump” grind is sustainable way to improve performance.
For the record: he is mistaken.
