Do you catch yourself just swimming with the stream most of the time, or do you swim against the stream when need be? This is my invitation for you to ponder how you can be yourself and stand up for something. What is your personal brand? What will your legacy be? What are the things that only you should do? What are the things in life that you must take a stand for?

Work is more than just trade time for money. GenZs and Millennials are the most advanced workers in that way as they will either not join your company, or they will make a brief appearance and not stay if you do not offer them perspective and purpose in trade for their time. They are taking a stand and they will seek out a place of employment that fulfills those basic needs. They are happier and they will be just as loyal as their more tenured co-workers.

I got really good at swimming against the stream at a previous place of employment where we practiced a Triple Bottom Line (People, Planet, and Prosperity) management style. We started with a strategic plan that included involving every employee with what our vision and mission ought to be. Which goals we should pursue. My team members knew the answers – “all” it took was for me and all other leaders to just listen. The company grew in revenue and profitably.

The biggest payoff came in form of building a new manufacturing building that had to be congruent with our core values and our vision/ mission. We wanted a building that had to be at least twice the size of the old building with room to add on later. It also was supposed to reduce our energy consumption by at least 50% of the building we had leased at the time. Furthermore, we wanted for the building to eventually afford for our business to be carbon neutral.

At the time we started on that journey no other Pennsylvanian industrial manufacturer had done anything like it. It was a difficult task and we had many barriers in our way. People told me I was a tree hugger, idealist, etc. Construction companies would not consider working with us. With a terrific architect (thanks Jenn and Scott from Re:Vision) we build our dream work place and extended it in 2017. Take a look here and take a looks around the final result of a LEED Gold certified manufacturing building: Take a look at the slides here.

Little did my best friend and company president realize at the time that taking a stand and walking a very difficult path would pay huge dividends. Our team member’s morale improved, we had the most engaged team members, and enjoyed a significant increase in revenue and profitability. The building’s design fostered transparency and collaboration. We were able to achieve more with the same resources. Our KPIs tracked revenue and profitability per employee. That allowed us to produce more machines than ever before even though they had a high degree of complexity in small batch sizes. We totally swam against the stream.

Vendors, customers, business leaders, government representatives (local and international) as well as school students alike have been inspired by coming and touring the facility. We had record numbers of visitors. In many a conversation with people who came for a visit mentioned how impressed they were with the many benefits of designing a work place where the physical path through the organization matches the workflow process. A work place that has ample natural light and fresh air – even on the shop floor and warehouse. More importantly, we attracted the best talent who wanted to join a cutting edge employer.

“All” it took was becoming congruent with our values by constructing and moving into our building. Everyone was able to touch, feel, and thus experience the difference. Work turned into having fun with purpose. To this day I have people question whether or not such a work environment exists and even if it did, whether or not it is worth anyone’s time and money to pursue such a thing. Well, welcome to Utopia! It took quite a bit of effort swimming against the stream of common opinion and “best method” practices. I can tell you that doing so is totally worth it. This has changed me into whom I have become today and how I prefer leading organizations. When I focus on growing my team members, they in turn provide the best solutions for my customers, this helps reduce our impact on our resources. When we then minimize the impact on the environment we have a long term sustainable business proposition that is worthwhile pursuing. That is a life well lived – Triple Bottom Line style.

Here are a few benefits if you decide build your own way of swimming against main stream:

1. You do the stuff that other people say cannot or should not be done. Your staff looks up to you as you quietly do it anyway.
2. You will be recognized as a leader because you do cutting edge stuff. You cannot lead from the rear of the pack; you do need to be one step ahead at least with your thoughts. That’s what you do!
3. You will almost automatically become a subject matter expert at what you do best. You think about it non stop and you constantly improve. That is a good position to have. Only when you do solid and objective research followed by offering your expertise freely will you be able to influence people.
4. You will inspire people to do the same as you. You never know who listens to what you have to say, but they do and this makes the world a better place.
5. The more you practice, the less afraid you are of criticism by others. There are always people who value you and your input.
6. All of this leads to a much richer and more balanced life. That can mean wealth too. The power of a brand fills the Web with business every day. Money is not pursued – it is attracted to whom you have become.
7. All of the above leads to a great degree of sustainability. Focus on growing your team members. They grow, customer’s needs are filled, and you have the revenue to provide for yourself and your team. Minimize impact on resources and your organization will be around for a long time to come.

Ralf

PS: This building was featured on a PBS special called “Green Builders” a while back. The straw bale construction conference room was shown during the construction phase. Here is the Youtube video excerpt that shows some of the important energy saving measures deployed in the building.