EachJanuary, the members of our company get together to discuss theprevious year and our objectives for the year ahead. We invite afew friends and advisors from outside the company to add a uniqueperspective to the discussions and to challenge our thinking. Weask ourselves the fundamental question: “why are we here?” Thisanswer is our purpose, our ideal. And all of our discussions on ourstrategies and tactics need to come back to this purpose. Are weliving up to that purpose? The decisions we make every day need tobe aligned with that purpose. How often do you take a step back andchallenge your team about why you do what you do?

Our agenda includes fundamental business topics: financialresults, business development, and where we are heading as acompany. Prior to these meetings, we interview every team member.We use feedback from these interviews to select agenda items anddrive discussion. We ask the team members what drives them, whatchallenges them, and their vision for the future of the company.Yes, we’re a small company and it’s easy to interview 10 people.But, the information we gather is what helps drive our companyfurther. And everyone is onboard for the ride, which is criticalfor creating a culture of growth. Are your team members onboardwith your company’s purpose and vision?

The rookie on our team conducts the interviews. It gives her theopportunity to learn more about who we are and what we stand for.She gets a better sense as to what gets the team fired up everymorning and what keeps them up at night. Understanding whatmotivates your teammates adds a human element that doesn’t exist inemployee handbooks. How often do your leaders sit down with newemployees and share their vision and excitement about thecompany?