The Story of Culture By Choice: Part 2

No company exists unless it provides something somebody else needs or wants. Culture By Choice, or CBC as we’ve become to be known as, initially did a few little projects for a few companies. I contacted an old friend who was President and CEO of a large electrical contractor in Illinois and my partner, Larry, contacted an old friend who was the President and CEO of a Vending Industry Company in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We explained to our respective contacts what we were up to and to our pleasant surprise, they were both interested. So I left my home in Southern Michigan and drove into the Northwest suburbs of Chicago. Larry headed off to Chattanooga from his home in Southern Wisconsin. Within a few months we had our first 2 clients and today, more than 9 years later, even though both of those initial contacts have retired, these 2 companies are still using our services. They have not only survived this most recent pandemic and its associated economic downturn, but they have emerged as thriving businesses.

We’ve added a considerable number of clients beyond these first 2. They are from a variety of industries and from many different regions of the US. They all have one thing in common, leadership in these companies wants to create cultures that promote success for everyone. Not just share holders and top management, but everyone in the organization. This requires more than our Core Advantage Assessments. It requires a commitment to Legacy Leadership. Legacy Leadership is several steps beyond what most people think leadership is. Legacy Leadership looks at the whole of an organization and examines its “collective WHY!” Not just why was this company created but the why that exists when you ask why the reason for creating the company is important, and then ask why that’s important and you keep asking why “that last idea is important” until you can’t go any deeper.

For Culture By Choice, we created our company to help our clients create company cultures that promote success for all. So why is this important? When everyone begins to personally feel success in what they are doing, they will have a greater sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. And why is that important? Greater accomplishment and satisfaction can lead to greater productivity and a more positive outlook. Why is that important? Higher productivity is good for our nation and a more positive outlook is good for out personal wellbeing. So why is that important? When we feel better, we tend to treat others better and when the US prospers we tend to be more generous. We come to our ultimate why: to do our part in creating a better world. We are only one small company but, when we see the progress our client companies are making and see what they are doing to support and take care of their communities, we know we are going in the right direction.

We have so much work yet to do. There are so many needs. We believe that we can impact the entire world by being that little stone, that when thrown into the water, the ripples we create continue to effect others, even though we may have never directly interacted with them. This is truly what it means to be a Legacy Leader. At Culture By Choice, we want to make Legacy Leaders out of everyone. Whether it is a CEO or a delivery person, each person can, and should consider how what they do from moment to moment impacts others in the most positive way possible. The road map for this journey is the values, principles, ethos of the organization. We’ll examine these next time when we dive into part 3 of the Story of Culture By Choice.