Our core value of “Think Long Term” is exemplified with a mountain and the metaphorical climb. Look to the peak –think long term. During each of our last several Monthly Manager Ascension Meetings I go over our core purpose and core values and whenever I get to the core values I always start with “think long term.”
Yesterday I was reflecting on what this means to various people. Within the last few years I’ve also found myself saying, “think long term, but survive the short term.” Or, “win now in such a way that you’re still winning long term.” Another aspect struck me yesterday –“long term” is different for various roles.
A technician is often tempted to focus on only the next task. Sometimes there is peace in this present life. However, a long term view might look at the entire day. What is it that I can do to get more jobs through by the end of the day compared to others technicians or other businesses similar to ours?
So what struck me in the above thought was how “long term” is relative to roles and relative to competitors. In similar fashion a customer support representative in one of our service companies might be looking at just the next call. A long term minded CSR might look at the schedule as a whole for the entire week.
In each case we are asking our teammates to be thinking people. Consider what the purpose is, and how we can delight our customers, make workable solutions for our teammates and produce results for the owners.
A General Manager of a particular location often looks at the day ahead and considers how the week is developing. Some managers look out to the next quarter or season. They think long term about hiring and training. Our District Managers are usually focused on months and quarters. Besides unblocking immediate issues they’re planning and working the team toward longer term objectives. By looking out a year or even more they might set up multiple locations for stronger compounding.
As I reflect on my responsibilities to uphold and lead in this core value, I believe it’s important to look across several years. This might be the normal thing for a small business owner. What is long term? In my family I speak about thinking of eternity. Is that where my head ought to be for business? I used to think so. Now, it seems a bit overly zealous. Practically, it’s important to think of some macro cycles –many of which are 10 years or more. How do we set up scenarios to capture and ride this wave? What’s most likely to come next? What am I doing to help develop good succession plans for our key teammates? How will we improve our systems for more acquisitions?
Finally, no particular timeframe is better than another. I used to think the longest term thinker was the winner. In a game of competitive core value display I wanted to win. I’ve matured. Let’s get real. Frankly, the big idea here is to be thoughtful and to stretch ourselves out a bit compared to what’s normal in your place within our company –and for yourself. On a personal note, I’ve balanced super long term with reality of presence. There is very little long term benefit to anxiety inducing long term competitive thinking. What in the world?
So, get on with it, but bear in mind the long term. Have an aim. Pursue it. Adjust. Continue.