Soon Sylvia was back. I followed her to the CEO’s office and as he greeted me, I knew exactly why this company’s brand was so evident in everyone’s behavior – he was a dynamic role model of all the company’s values! Everything about the CEO epitomized the corporate brand – how he was dressed, the way he treated his assistant, the way he greeted me, and his warm, engaging style of communication. Guess why he had called for this meeting – “Sandy,” he said, “Our values have created shareholder value! We have achieved our strategic goals for the year, even though it was a huge stretch! I would like to explore what we need to do to take this company to the next level!”
You would be amazed what you can learn about an organization simply by sitting in the reception area, watching the receptionist and employees as they pass through. You can begin to see elements of the company culture and values coming through by the way people speak to each other and by their body language, tone of voice, the way they express themselves, the connectivity between people, the noise level, the level of interpersonal warmth or coolness. Sitting in the reception area you will soon be able to sense the level of energy and passion that permeates the company, the degree of corporate pride; you will soon know something about the level of professionalism and caring, about how people relate to each other, how they feel about themselves and the company.
I looked around. Plastered around the walls of the reception were several banners and beautifully framed vision and mission statements. A huge framed graphic, with many leadership and employee signatures on it, boldly pronounced the corporate values to be: building relationships, exceeding expectations; taking personal accountability and resourcefulness.
So I began to look for living evidence of these great statements, hoping that they would not turn out to be corporate value cliches of the kind that appear in Annual Reports. To my utter delight, I soon began to see that the brand was alive and well in the way the employees behaved!
To begin with, the receptionist come out from behind the imposing reception desk and walked towards me. She said that since I was early for my meeting perhaps I would like a cup of freshly brewed coffee. I gladly accepted, upon which she disappeared and promptly returned with a cup of steaming coffee on an elegant tray bearing an elegant napkin and a small plate with 2 cookies.
She then went back to her desk to greet someone who had arrived. Just as I began to sip the coffee, the CEO’s assistant appeared through the side door, approached me and said, “Oh I see that you have already been taken care of. I am Sylvia, the CEO’s assistant. I knew you were waiting so I came to see if you would like something warm to drink.” She then checked with me that the flip chart and the laptop and LCD projector were all the equipment I needed (she had sent me an email the day before requesting to know what I required for my meeting with the CEO). This certainly exceeded my expectations!
