Every once in awhile we have a meeting here at KaiNexus in which our CEO Greg Jacobson dorks out about how awesome our team is and how far we as a company have come in the last couple of years. When he did this a couple of weeks ago, we all got our usual warm fuzzy feelings, and then moved on with our days. Well…at least, I did - I assume everyone else did, too. After all, when you work at a company this fast paced, you can’t just sit around and bask in your glory for long. The next challenge is waiting to be tackled.

Over the weekend, though, I was thinking about a conversation I had with him last week, and I think it’s important to share with you. Not so much what he’s talking about, though it’s a pretty cool story in and of itself - but listen to the WAY he says it.

Here he is on the KaiNexus Podcast:

Now, I don’t know if that story will resonate with you. It probably won’t, if spreading kaizen isn’t your M.O.

What should resonate with you, though, regardless of what your company does or what your personal mission is -  is his voice - his inflection - his attitude and enthusiasm. When you talk to your employees, do you sound like that? Do you articulate your mission like this? Can your employees FEEL it in conversation with you?

Greg’s enthusiasm for spreading improvement is infectious. So much so that I think if you sat down to talk to any member of our team, you’d find that it’s this unbridled passion that brought us all together. When you have leaders who believe so strongly in their mission and the whole team is on board, an amazing culture is created.

This ability is the mark of a leader who can lead a culture change. If you’re trying to spread a culture of continuous improvement and it’s not working, pay more attention to your conversations. If you’re not transmitting your mission in every interaction you have it’s no wonder they’re not on board.

Take a page out of Greg’s book. Share your passion. Engage your employees in it. Get them to feel so strongly about your mission that they’re excited about even the most boring parts of their jobs because they know they’re mission critical.

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