I recently saw a semi-truck with a large arrow pointing towards the cab of the truck and this statement, “Our greatest asset sits 63 feet up here.” I have seen it before, but this time it struck me differently. I thought, Does the culture of that company support this statement or is it no more than a marketing slogan? Companies want to be “on top”, “cutting edge”, “innovative”. The question is: Does the culture support the cutting edge marketing? It’s great to have a catchphrase or some values on the wall, however, it is not easy to lead a group of people every day, month, and year after year. It’s not easy to lead the pack and in fact I am going to say DON’T lead the pack. Lead yourself first. Any great business coach will tell you to know your team, but do you know yourself, who you are, and why you do what you do?

As business leaders, we care deeply about employee engagement, but we can’t operationalize a culture of engagement by ourselves. Without a strategy for scaling it across the business, it’s tough to move the needle. As my own business has grown, I’ve realized that the best thing we can do for our employees is to focus on the top two or three actions that will have the greatest impact—and hold our people-leaders or “trusted lieutenants” accountable as owners of those initiatives.

We all know the fundamental building blocks of the Great Game of Business®: Know and teach the rules Follow the action and keep score Provide a Stake in the Outcome® When it comes to that third step—providing a stake in the outcome—what’s the best way to do that? Two common choices include cash bonuses and equity sharing. Many owners, especially those new to the Game, are skittish about sharing equity with employees. They can’t always put their finger on why it makes them nervous, but the reality is that using equity interests can be a great way to provide a stake in the outcome to your associates.

How does someone take three conservative intellectual property businesses with very traditional cultures and transform them into an engaged, high-performing business? To compound the challenge, we were now publicly listed and were moving the business from a partnership model to complete transparency. The Great Game of Business® helped us to overcome these challenges, culturally transform our business, and achieve both improved engagement and financial results. In the process, we learned four important lessons:

You’ve likely experienced people who occupy leadership positions and people who are leaders. There’s quite a difference. People who only occupy the position use power to get what they think is needed. Their use of questions often includes blame or demands control. Perhaps you’ve heard this one: “Don’t you agree, or is there something you didn’t understand?” People who are true leaders do the opposite. They ask questions to get people thinking about and owning the results of their work and the collective results of the company.

Great Game® practitioners have many shared values, such as a commitment to High-Involvement Strategic Planning, and the belief that every employee can impact the bottom line. Another shared value, which may at first seem too obvious to mention, is an attention to the numbers. As Great Game of Business practitioners, we are attentive, even passionate, about the numbers. To successfully scale and grow our business, this passion and thought must apply to all numbers on the balance sheet. Having a “why” behind every employees’ compensation that can be sustained long-term is critical to keeping top talent around and attracting the best new hires.

There’s an old quote attributed to Peter Drucker that says, “What gets measured gets improved”. While I firmly believe this is true, it’s important to understand that what you measure is equally as important as how and why you measure it.

Over more than two decades, our employees have consistently been exposed to the teachings of the Great Game of Business® through meetings and trainings at Daryl Flood, Inc., but we found that we wanted to take this training beyond the classroom to interact directly with employees on an individual level. How? Through gamification of our training courses. This allows us to share content with employees in a format that is fun and motivates them to engage in learning at their convenience. There are four things to focus on when building a successful gamified education program:

“In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ~Tom Bodett I remember the grip of fear and dread that day. How could I forget? After 18 years in business, we faced a nearly insurmountable crisis that could have brought it all to an end. A few months earlier I had hired a bright young man that seemed to have what it takes to grow into a valuable member of our team and become a shining star. His name was Travis and he applied to be an estimator and project manager. Filling this role successfully would increase sales and help us grow. But in time I learned my assessment was wrong! Oh, how wrong!

An open-door policy refers to the practice of business or organizational leaders leaving their doors open so that employees feel welcome to stop by and meet informally, ask questions, or discuss matters that have been weighing on their minds. These days, with open office environments, co-working spaces and remote team members working around the globe, the “open-door policy” is more metaphorical than ever before. The equivalent of walking through a physical open door in many organizations is now sending a text message, a direct message on Facebook or Slack, an instant message on Skype, or a ping on Basecamp. Regardless of whether the interruption is through an actual door or a digital door, the theory is that an organization uses such openness to build a culture of trust, collaboration, communication, and respect regardless of an individual’s position in the hierarchy.