I just gave my first All Hands presentation to the Exuma/DockMaster team this afternoon. I started creating the presentation at 8am this morning. The talk started at 1pm. In between creating the presentation and delivering it I drove the 35 minute commute to the office and grabbed lunch. Next week I will post a blog that describes this process of shortening your time frame to ensure heightened levels of focus .

In the All Hands presentation I outlined 3 Words (themes) that should help shape the company in 2010. As per my personal 3 words , the words I’ve selected for Exuma are designed to challenge both me and my team to take our company to the next level. The 3 words are: CHANGE, LEARN, GROW.

CHANGE: It’s cliche, but change is everywhere and accelerating. Look at how quickly Social Media channels have been accepted into the main stream of life and compare the rate of adoption to e-mail. I have no data to back this up, but it seems like it took 10-years for e-mail to garner the same number of users that its taken Social Media outlets like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to gain in a year. We must not only embrace change, but we need to seek it out. I’ve instructed my team that phrases like “we’ve always done it this way” or “we don’t work that way” are no longer acceptable at our company.

LEARN: Learning is the antithesis of talking. In other words I am coaching my team to spend more time listening than talking. We are too quick to react – to answer a question before its completely stated. We will never learn and grow if we can’t listen. By listening I mean doing it emphatically and actively. Not simply to placate someone. We also need to look outside of our industry for examples of systems and ideas that work well, so that they can be evaluated and adapted in our own company. Lastly, learn from the mistakes of others as this is often more instructive.

GROW: Last year was about survival. This year we are back in growth mode. We are excited about expanding both in our market and in other markets as well. 2010 won’t be a walk in the park – its going to be full of challenges, but if we can stay focused we can grow our businesses.

I’ve challenged each of my team leads to carry this message through to their respective groups and to develop meaningful incentives to embrace these themes.