Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture

Chapter 52. Unity

Fast-forward three months: Nancy looked around the ballroom. She was hosting a company-wide event to celebrate the success of Soup, Inc. She and her teams had implemented the "We Are Family" engagement campaign a week after the board meeting, and, as a result, sales and profits continued to grow, as did morale and engagement. Nancy had worried that once they had saved the company, people would go back to their old ways, but that hadn't happened. With a unifying vision and commitment to creating a culture of greatness and engaged relationships, everyone in the company focused on continuous improvement, day-by-day, month-by-month, quarter-by-quarter. They didn't focus on how good they were, but rather on how much better they could become. This focus, drive, and passion permeated the culture, and Nancy knew they needed this celebration to honor their hard work and efforts.

It wasn't your typical company event, however. Instead of inviting only employees, Nancy invited the employees' families, too. Her dad had always told her that unity was the difference between an average team and a great team, and unity meant being one family. It wasn't enough to have just the employees on board; real unity and engagement came from having the employees' families on board as well. Everyone, including the employees' families, contributed to their culture and had a role in stirring the pot. While many leaders tried to separate personal life from business life, Nancy knew the line was ...