Many of my columns have focused on how to build a great company and how to inspire people. My leadership team and I would like to focus this week’s column on the why. Why do we build great companies? We often say that it is for the people, for our communities and for the greater good. I believe that leaders have good intentions and set out to do great things.
Yet I wonder: If a company accepts millions of dollars in venture capital (debt), answers to an external board, and creates something that is designed to be sold to a bigger fish, does this really help the people who work there more so than a small business?
In the short term, perhaps the answer is yes. The company creates jobs for a time that can support and grow the local economy. But today, I am wondering about the ripple effect to the people and the community when a company is built primarily with the goal of being eventually sold.
It is my opinion that it is desirable and even imperative that great leaders not only manage their companies for the long term, but are also willing to share the ownership of their companies with their employees and staff. How does this help their businesses?
Consider the data: The National Center for Employee Ownership (www.NCEO.org) reports that among U.S. companies that offer stock, about 36 percent of the workforce owns stock in their employers’ company, representing some 28 million employee owners nationwide. This number represents an astonishing growth rate over the past 40 years–in the 1970s, estimates indicated a mere 1 million employees owned stock.
NCEO’s considerable research extends to companies’ willingness to not only share the company’s profits and earnings, but to create a “culture of ownership” for its members as well. Both factors contribute positively and significantly to business success:
“Research consistently shows that the companies that combine significant annual contributions to an ownership plan with regular, structured opportunities for employees to participate in decisions affecting their jobs, and who routinely share information about company financial performance with employees, perform far better than those who do not.”
We are not perfect at Fishbowl (in fact, you can read about all of our imperfections, including my own, in the upcoming book The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning, due out from Wiley in August).
We are human beings, and inherent in the process of being human, we live and learn through mistakes. But here are two of the important things I believe our company does right:
1. Employee Ownership. We share our company with the employees who express a desire for ownership and demonstrate the same values and ideals as the company. We have encapsulated these in the 7 Non-Negotiables. Our employees must walk the talk of respect, belief, trust, loyalty, commitment, courage and gratitude for at least 12 months to qualify to be an owner.
2. Committing to never sell our company. I have stated that we would never sell Fishbowl. How can employees be sure we will always remain true to this promise? Every employee received a special edition copy of the book The 7 Non-Negotiables of Winning, which declares this commitment on the very first page.
This week I completed our second round of stock distribution with my business partner, Fishbowl President Mary Michelle Scott. Of our 100 employees, there are now 71 owners of Fishbowl.
We believe these 71 individuals are a much better investment in the future and legacy of our company than a business model that is designed to flip, or one that creates ownership opportunity for only a select few at the top. Each person who received stock also accepted an ownership stewardship in addition to their daily responsibilities. We created the stewardship from the dreams each of them shared with us in their presentation to us about what is most important to them as we protect and grow our company.
Mary and I also celebrated with our leaders the 103rd-year anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s Daring Greatly quote that speaks to the heart of getting in to the arena.
Teddy’s quote means as much today as it did a century ago. We only made one small change and we don’t think he would mind: Companies do better, we believe, when the TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) is the arena.
For many years in my life, I stood alone in business. Sometimes I soared and sometimes I crashed and burned. Today, winning and losing are just a part of the game at work. These days I don’t get caught up in the wins and losses. I’m more interested in a smooth and steady ride with the team that gets in the arena with me every day. I am also thankful for the “home” team – my family who stands by my side through thick and thin.
In light of this occasion, I encourage every company in the U.S. and worldwide to have the courage to share ownership with their employees. To the 71 owners of Fishbowl, we open our arms this week and say with gratitude and respect, “Welcome to the Arena.”
To the TEAM
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
23 April, 1910
23 April, 1910
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
(Commemorating the 103rd Anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘Man in the Arena’ Speech)
Additional reporting for this article provided by Fishbowl President Mary Michelle Scott.
Author: David K. Williams | Google+
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