A nice little article here in the Harvard Business Review, reminding us that as well as “walking the talk” it is also important for leaders to “talk the walk”.
The billionaire founder of Quicken Loans, for instance, spends a full day every six weeks talking to new recruits and existing employees about the key philosophies that drive the company and how to put these into practice. The CEO of the company also spends the whole day doing the same. Walking the talk and talking the walk.
As the article explains,
“The only sustainable form of business leadership is thought leadership. And leaders that think differently about their business invariably talk about it differently as well.”
At Quicken this means a day spent learning “a language system that defines life inside the organisation and reminds everyone what really drives success.”
The result is a “a whole new language… that sets the company apart in the marketplace and holds people together in the workplace.”
How is this relevant to The Churning?
Once you know what you want to achieve, Chapter 6 of Inner Leadership shows you how to turn that into an inspiring vision. This is “Talking the walk.”
Chapter 7 emphasises how reaching the vision is as much about enacting the culture you want to create as taking the actions to get you there. This is “Walking the talk.”
Combined, these two approaches have helped Quicken Loans achieve remarkable growth. Inner Leadership helps you to do the same.