How is your corporate "self-image"?

                                          Corporate self-image.

                                               Tim Connor

One of the critical factors for success in any endeavor is a healthy and positive self-image. Essentially a person’s self-image will determine:

-how they respond to life's circumstances

-how they view the world around them

-what goals they set for themselves

-how they react to failure and adversity

-how they feel about themselves and others

-how they behave when no one is looking

-how they handle difficult situations

-their destiny and much more.

All organizations are made up of groups of individuals (departments, subsidiaries, branches, etc.) who have an individual – group - self-images and therefore as a group tends to create what I refer to in my management seminars as an 'organizational self-image'. 

This group self-image can, over time, contribute to how each group, department, etc. as a whole tends to define itself and therefore act, behave, decide, etc. This combined self-image over time can cause organizations to excel or fail in the same way it causes an individual to succeed or fail.

For example, if a group of employees in a customer service department sees themselves as unimportant and unappreciated - the department, in general, will tend to, over time, treat customers in much the same way.  Yes, there may be select individuals who treat customers with respect and concern, but in general the department as a whole, because of its low self-image, will treat most customers poorly.

If the management team in an organization, for whatever reason(s), is not in sync with other departments and its direction, goals, decisions, philosophy, communication, etc. due to individual or group low self-esteem, it will create confusion, dysfunction, chaos, a lack of harmony, very little employee empowerment and poor performance among its employees throughout the organization.  It’s called “culture response”.

If the members of a sales team feel that they are unnecessary, constantly under pressure to perform with little or no positive reinforcement or appreciation or are perceived by other departments or senior management as nothing, but arrogant trouble makers, the individual self-image of the members of the group, over time, will become the 'group' self-image. 

As an example, one of the outcomes of this 'group self-mage' is often the same as in the list of consequences listed above.  One common sales outcome in this issue could be where the sales group's approach to price resistance is generally to reduce price rather than sell value thereby contributing to low corporate margins and profits.

I'll leave you with a few questions to consider - What is your overall corporate self-image?  What do you believe is the general corporate self-image of your major departments? What are the ultimate consequences either positive or negative that you are experiencing as a result of these various self-images?   What or who is contributing or re-enforcing this corporate self-image or department self-image?

Yes, there are many more questions I could ask but hopefully these have triggered your thinking.

In closing, as I have studied many organizations, around the world, that have both failed and succeeded over the years, with the purpose of learning what messages I needed to bring to management in my training programs – the single biggest issue in all of them was improving their corporate self-image.