The Performance Culture

Epilogue

Building cultures that win.

One of the first times I put the ABCS model into practice, I didn’t even know it was happening, or that there was the flicker of a model being born.

At the time, I was just kind of stumbling along, making decisions, and reacting to what was happening around me. And while that level of luck and serendipity happens from time to time, what I benefit from now, and what I am excited about for you, is the ability to look ahead, plan for the desired outcome, and intentionally bring along a team of skilled partners to deliver strong results.

It was 2010. I was working on a large training team, and my company was feverishly opening new retail stores as part of a global expansion. In some instances, we were expanding into countries where we didn’t yet have a presence. Instead of expanding our training delivery team, a collection of our leaders came up with the unconventional idea to have trainers come from existing retail stores and help with training the new store teams. These “guest trainers” weren’t professional trainers, but they were people with the appetite and aptitude to learn. They were successful employees who knew the company culture, understood how the stores operated, and spoke the languages of the countries where we were expanding.

The idea to bring on these temporary trainers was well received, and I, alongside some of the best people with whom I’ve ever had the fortune to work, were responsible for building key elements of the program, ...