Having an inspiring company story is one of the best-kept secrets to organizational growth. A compelling company story is more than just a mission statement. It speaks to what the company stands for, how it competes, what it wants to be to its people and its clients; and it communicates that in a way that inspires its employees, prospects, clients and community.
This month, Joe Mechlinski interviews John Walden and David Zdrojewski, partners in Richmond, Virginia-based VibrAlign, a company that provides shaft alignment systems and vibration solutions to customers nationwide. Walden and Zdrojewski have woven their personal values and those of their company into a masterful, motivational story that they credit for leading to their best year since their company’s founding in 1983.
Joe: Guys, how was developing your company’s story different than developing a vision or mission statement?
John: Historically, we have always viewed ourselves as a family at VibrAlign. What the story did is solidify all the things you would do in a family with young kids. You would think about the values you want to be able to teach your kids; how to be passionate about things, how to love other people, how to be open, how to be focused on what they want. Many of the core things in our story are the same things you’d want to pass from generation to generation.
Joe: There’s a science to developing a story, but there’s also an art. As an owner, the story transcends your business and illuminates your core. It’s not just about the company; it’s about you two and what you believe.
David: That’s right. As much as I hated doing it, I’m a huge fan of the 25 Reasons Why activity. It’s beneficial personally, and it was really helpful in developing the story. John and I had become so bogged down in thinking about all the stuff we didn’t like or want, but Joe, when you helped us create our story, you started us thinking about what we’d like, what we want. Our focus shifted to where we’re going instead of where we don’t want to go. That changed my whole outlook.
John: I agree. This idea of running toward what you want instead of running away from what you don’t want was a game changer. Run toward what you want – that’s what we’ve tried to do. And this lets employees know, without even looking at their job descriptions, what it is they’re supposed to be working toward. David and I got complaints all the time because people didn’t know where we were going; what we wanted. This process creates an umbrella under which all that communication can occur.
Joe: What was your experience in going through the 25 Reasons Why exercise?
John: We’re an engineering-based company that sells an engineered product. It’s always been easy for us to think in terms of “what” and the key for me in developing this story was understanding the importance of “why.”
David: Which made our customers connect on a personal level.
John: Exactly, but the why is not only for our customers. It’s also for our employees. When we looked at the 25 Reasons Why as we were developing this story guide, they really came around to why are we even in business. Why are we here?
David: John and I are both – I wouldn’t call us religious – but we are spiritual. When you get to those last few whys, that’s higher purpose stuff. Going through the 25 Why’s helped us realize that yeah, we’re in business to make money and we want to grow, but there’s also a higher objective to all of this.
Joe: What have been some of the benefits of naming your whys?
David: We’ve had one of the best years we’ve ever had, and I am certain that part of it had to do with clarifying our values. I’ve never been as optimistic about the business as I am right now. We just had a great year in a really tough economy, and for someone like me who really cares about the numbers, it’s important to note that this hasn’t cost us any dough.
John: We have a unique organization in that we have two guys sitting on top of it. That doesn’t always work well, but David and I have worked well together for ten plus years. We never really understood why we worked well together until we went through this activity. It was startling to see how many common things there were across our lists. Don’t get me wrong, we disagree fairly often. But we are able to work those things through because we have these common whys, not because we look at things the same way. The 25 Reasons Why activity clarified for us why we work so well together. And I have noticed that the decisions being taken by our subordinates seem to be much better than they were in the past.
David: As we rolled this story out, there was some trepidation; some people thought we had lost our minds. This is the soft side of business, and the soft side doesn’t sell all the time. Not everyone is comfortable right off the bat. But we have a video of our people telling our story, and when you see the video, it’s clear that they were into it. They are into it. It stirred up the passion in the organization. And what do passionate people do?
John: Passionate people will climb mountains and forge streams for you.
Joe: In your daily routine of running a sales organization, how often does this story concept come up?
David: Almost every time.
John: We’re still learning, especially at the client interaction level. Some of our people stumble with it, but I see that as more of a communication issue than an issue of understanding. They understand it; they’re just not comfortable communicating it yet. Ninety percent of this organization is technical- and engineering- orientated. When you tell an engineer to do something that is…
David: Touchy feely.
John: Yes, it takes a while to get comfortable with it. This concept is a little tougher to grasp, but they’re trying.
Joe: Thinking about the coming year, what’s next in relation to your story?
David: I’m thinking about how we can leverage all this!
John: When we were developing the story, David and I worked hard to focus on the core things that wouldn’t change over time rather than more transient items. That way, in the day-to-day battle of doing business, the story will help us overcome challenges because it’s an ever-present reminder of our true core values. It helps us all come to the same conclusions, because it is what we feel is right. We had always told our people to do the right thing, but it never really clicked. But once we had the story, “doing the right thing” finally became well defined.
David: We’ve started thinking bigger since undertaking this process. Now we’re not only thinking about realigning our company; we’re thinking we should realign America. Maybe that sounds a little corny, but I think we can have an impact on America.
John: Well, that is what America is about. In the 1800’s we pushed out west. In the 1900’s we learned how to be an industrial force in the world. People like Henry Ford and Rockefeller pointed us in the right direction. Their over-arching attitude was this: no matter what you do, you’re not going to get in my way. I’m going to grow. That’s America’s story, and now it’s ours, too.
