Define vision, value, and voice model

- We know from research that most leaders focus on tasks and achieving results. This is about hard quantitative and analytically-oriented aspects of business. But the best leaders do something more. They focus on both tasks and relationships. It's this combination that helps them achieve sustainable superior performance. So that begs the question, how do you achieve relationship excellence? Here is where connection culture comes in. A connection culture is created and sustained when leaders communicate an inspiring vision, value people and give them a voice. An easy way to remember this is to memorize the formula vision plus value plus voice. Vision is when everyone in the organization is motivated by the mission, united by the values and proud of the reputation. Costco is a great example of an organization with a connection culture. It's consistently recognized as one of America's best large company employers. Costco's vision includes its code of ethics captured in the phrase, do the right thing. This means first, obey the law. Second, take care of our members. Third, take care of our employees. Fourth, respect our suppliers. And fifth, reward our shareholders. People at Costco are proud to work for an organization that lives up to high standards. The second element of a connection culture is value. Value means that everyone is valued as a human being and not thought of or treated as a means to an end. Value exists when everyone in the organization understands the needs of people, appreciates their positive, unique contributions and helps them achieve their potential. Costco demonstrates it values people through the way it takes care of its employees. Some Wall Street analysts believe Costco pays its employees too much and gives them far too generous benefits. Costco's senior leadership disagrees. They believe that taking care of employees is the right thing to do. It's one of the reasons they retain such a high percentage of employees year after year. and Costco's employee retention is the envy of its competitors. The third element of a connection culture is voice. Voice exists when everyone in the organization seeks the ideas of others, shares their ideas and opinions, honestly, and safeguards relational connections. Costco gives employees a voice by encouraging them to share their opinions and ideas to improve the business. One year when I spoke at Costco's annual managers conference, I saw scores of video stories of employees from all around the world who came up with great ways to reduce costs and improve productivity, quality and service. Their ingenuity was celebrated, and managers came away inspired with ideas they could implement at their own warehouse location. Briefly consider the vision plus value plus voice model and see if you can come up with examples for each of the three Vs. How is the strength of connection in the culture you work in?