Are Clients in your org chart? If they are, are they at the center? The teams that thrive do so because they never lose sight of the #1 priority any growth focused organization must keep at the forefront; Serving it’s Clients.

I have given great thought to our client service commitments here at MCCi, and am introducing the concept of The “Client Lane” internally.   We have a great management and leadership team who are committed to the concept, however I know that as we continue to grow it must be a top priority/focus to ensure it is never lost, therefore branding the concept and ingraining it in our core values makes total sense.

The concept of the Client Lane is that it should be the only “Lane”. It is about being mission oriented towards providing the best service to our Clients and dictating that this mission squashes unproductive noise/drama (which crops into all organizations from time to time). From an internal perspective it unifies us and promotes healthy debate/change, while maintaining a key requirement among leadership: Respect.

Each person we add to our team will impact our culture and that is ok as long as it is positive change and only enhances how we serve Clients.  It does require an unwavering commitment to the Client Lane coming from the very top.   When we do this, everyone wins.   When Clients win, our business grows, which means our people have the opportunity to grow as well.   And when our people have the opportunity to grow, that is the goal/reward that makes the effort of leadership worthwhile.   To do this, leaders must work together and have something that unites them.  Especially given that personalities are different and that the work one does greatly impacts the work of others.

Some things to consider regarding managers and leaders working together:

• Debate is healthy.
• Different personalities are required for role success.
• Each person is brought onto the team due to their specific skills/drive; each person is valuable.
• Each person has to work at being effective in approaching their peers; they must anticipate, understand, and respect the other’s goals/needs; this is part of being a leader.
• There must be bi-lateral commitment to respect and teamwork; if managers/leaders are not openly approachable to one another, it will negatively impact all stakeholders.
• No one is 100% right and the best negotiations require healthy and respectful collaboration; when others make mistakes, they should be forgiven as long as they are committed to the Client Lane agenda.

In summary, we must be unwavering in the requirement for respectful teamwork, and a great way to do that is by focusing on The “Client Lane”.