Changing a company's name is a big decision, but one I didn't take lightly! In this article I explain the evolution behind the decision to let go of myself as the eponym of my business.
When I started my business mid-2023, I knew I wanted to help people make organizations a better place to work. Initially I investigated happiness at work and employee engagement as a means to do just that. I created a model for Employee Engagement that I believed surpassed the traditional understanding of what employee engagement is and how to improve it and I even did a trial assessment at a client.
It didn't feel big enough. The problems most organizations face RESULTS in poor employee engagement, but to really change a workplace you need to change the culture. Culture is made up of behaviours, attitudes and beliefs that are encouraged and rewarded. I tried to build my whole business around culture - a culture course, culture consulting options and coaching for managers who wanted to improve their cultures.
Through more research and my experience working with teams and companies, I realized that the biggest contributor to both employee engagement and culture is management. A person's manager has a 70% influence on whether or not they are happy (and productive) at work. I actually believe better management is the answer to many business questions:
- Having trouble with team members working remotely? Institute outcomes-based management.
- Struggling to get performance up? Teach managers how to lead and motivate their teams.
- Plagued with inefficiencies? Make managers better at streamlining and implementing repeatable processes.
The answers to most company problems, in my mind, came down to improving management.
The unfortunate thing is that 60% of new managers never get trained! I've experienced this in my own management journey - from being promoted the very first time all the way to being promoted to executive, I received little to no management training or coaching. And I wasn't the only one!
I realized that the core of my passion-infused goal (to make companies a better place to work) relied on improving management and leadership practices.
I suppose I could have kept the business name the same. It is a beautiful name, after all! But I wanted to show that this is getting bigger than just myself. This organization is growing in all directions to become the go-to resource for managers and aspiring leaders on all things management and leadership related. Being an equestrian enthusiast myself (I have 4 horses trotting along my property), the visual of a blacksmith working on a piece of metal to make it strong, durable and shatter-resistant closely resembled the trials and tribulations that all managers and leaders face on their journeys. From there, the name "Leadersmiths" was born.
