To that effect, here is my list of the Top Ten Ways to Kill a Community. These same concepts can be applied to your business or organization if you have the foresight to view it as a community which must learn to thrive in a global market. In the development of this piece Leon Ho raised an excellent question. “How could readers prevent them (the ten killers) from happening?” As you see, Leon has a true talent for getting straight to the essence of an issue. Are these issues actionable, and if so, how? Item number 1 – When you make decision about how to allocate your resources, give careful thought as to whether you are providing a means for growth or are shoring up a failing initiative. Item number 2– Be certain that the decisions being made in your organization are being made as close as possible to the level at which they must be implemented. Item number 3 – If a gifted leader develops in one part of your organization, leave him there! Moving him to a new area in need of leadership does not encourage the growth of leaders there. AND it is demoralizing to the group that grew this leader in the first place. Item number 4 – Hire and train from within the community in which you are located. The community loyalty to your organization and its perceived value within that community will increase exponentially. Item number 5 – Maintain the diversity in your leadership meetings. Be sure to involve someone from every level to maintain and appropriate perspective. Item number 6 – Do what you can to help other businesses develop within the community in which you are located. Justification ? See number 4. Item number 7 – Find a core, stable group in your community and draw on them for as much of your staffing as possible. The greater your connection and investment in the community the greater the ferocity of that communities loyalty to you. Item number 8 – Don’t inflate artificially inflate the wages of your staff simply because they have been there for a while. Base salary increases on value added to the organization. Item number 9 – Do as much as you can to build your business model to develop the repeat “value added” business. Item number 10 – Provide the best quality facilities for your staff that you can afford. Now, get out in the community and work to achieve the same goals for the entire community. It is time consuming, it does cost you some focus from your own personal organization, but it the long term returns make it well worth while. Related Post: The Myth of Racism Part 8. Reg Adkins writes on behavior and the human experience at (elementaltruths.blogspot.com).
