When I was an active Marine we enjoyed an esprit de corps that lived within each of us.Like any large organization there were thousands performing all form of tasks from highly technical to digging holes. Yet we all believed in our credo, "Every Marine is a rifleman first". This one common belief meant that any job we performed should ultimately result in a single outcome -- a perfectly aimed round (bullet) headed toward an enemy.
I hear from so many firms that are looking for growth and stability but cannot conquer their culture of individualism -- every partner/owner is running like crazy in their own direction and marketing can barely keep up with everyone being all over the map. Does this sound familiar to you?
What these firms lack is esprit de corps -- one flag that all can march beneath.
Any culture promoting that "you" must be successful and not "we" must succeed is a firm without a flag. By the way, "let's all make lots of money" is not a flag. It is a result.
I encourage firm leadership to find their flag, the identity of their firm, and to become hardline about keeping everyone faithful to that purpose.
Authors note: Uuuuurah!
