Lesson 62: Affirmation
Your culture becomes what you affirm. “[Nigel’s] follow through and thoughtfulness is so rare and meaningful in our busy jobs.” In my first year as an investment banker, I received the Fifth Third Spirit of the Pin award. I was not an important person at the bank. However, this recognition for my efforts made me feel important and it reinforced how I should conduct myself at work. This one affirmation showed me people notice when you follow through and are thoughtful.
As an analyst at an investment bank, you expect to work 100+ hours each week in a cubicle, but you cannot guarantee someone will notice the extra ingredients you bake into your work. I love affirming the work people do. It builds a culture that celebrates behavior that helps the whole team. For companies on the list of Best Places to Work, their recipe for success often includes affirming positive behavior. Although I am no longer an analyst, I keep this memory from Fifth Third in mind as I take steps toward becoming a CEO.
One step I took along this journey was forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC). This week, I learned more about what an LLC is when I attended an ETA workshop hosted by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. They brought in an accounting firm to teach students about transaction structures to acquire a small company. I learned how an LLC allows the business to pass through taxation to the owners and can own other entities such as a C corporation or another limited liability entity. We even got advice on the most tax effective ways to structure a transaction when buying a business. Honestly, I still have a lot to learn about the tax and legal terms, but the presenter encouraged us to ask questions.
One of the presenters was Ashlyn Gray, CPA. She has worked in public accounting for the last 8 years, providing tax due diligence and structuring services for buy-side and sell-side M&A. My experience in M&A has allowed me to cross paths with accountants but this was my opportunity to ask many of the questions I never got the chance to while working in M&A. Her encouragement of questions felt affirming and created an atmosphere for learning for myself and my classmates. In simple ways, experts can bring people into the conversation when the topic can feel unapproachable at first.
My values are love, humility, and wisdom. Loving my people creates a culture where people feel affirmed for the hours they spend learning about and working on their craft. As leaders, we must not become too busy to recognize accomplishments, big or small. That is how you build culture and how people feel loved and appreciated by the organization.
This is Lesson 62: Affirmation. Next week is Lesson 63: Compromise.
