Management...management...and management. The responsiblity of managing another human being or group of human beings is the biggest responsibility a person will ever have end of story. Who creates and then continually improves processes? Employees...Who builds the product? Employees...Who delivers the services? Employees... Who fills the warehouse? Employees...Who answers the customers calls? Employees... The majority of what gets done in any organization is by the run of the mill employee...happy energized employees = more top line...more top line is what is needed to move from 1B to 2B.
Then there is this small group known as the management team. I'm not quite comfortable stating: Leadership team...hopefully you will fix this. I have always found it's very easy to manage something...my budget...my schedule...but leadership has a little different twist...I can't lead my budget...but I can lead a person or team to create a budget...Leadership to me has always been about inspiring, motivating, and energizing people...And if you show me a good leader...I will always show you a good role model...they are one in the same. So this small management team has overall accountability and responsibility for all of the stuff listed above...and additionally, this small team needs to ensure that these employees are happy, energized, and productive.
If you buy into any of this...then your IDEXX management team should be educated and experienced in the art of influencing and inspiring others to accomplish their tasks. People can be influeced two different ways...Postively or Negatively...a strong leader doesn't generally have to use the latter...no need to induce fear or threaten if you're a capable leader. This is where my Cons start. Your management team doesn't know how to inspire...they do not motivate...and they do not energize... they simply induce fear...fear doesn't bring new creative ideas out to the proverbial table...it causes people to retract and go into survival mode. Unfortunately, when the opportunity has presented itself to set examples of those who don't lead with integrity and character...nothing has every happened. Each time these great cultural shifting opportunities were missed by the Senior Leadership team...the grapevine buzz took over and the good ole boy way of management just got another 3 feet deeper. Don't be fooled into thinking that the new parchment paper on the walls stating your core values is anything much more than parchment paper. Change in the IDEXX culture starts and ends with your management team...they are your ONLY role models. If they are allowed to continue running ramshot and treating your most valuable asset (people) like disposable commodities then you will reap exactly what was sewn.
