The Soul of the Firm

C. William Pollard

Bill Pollard is chairman of Servicemaster. He served as CEO for a number of years. His personal philosophy -- and that of his predecessors -- is significantly different than most corporate leaders. He opens the book with a quote from Henry Ford. Ford once asked, "Why is it that I always get the whole person, when what I really want is a pair of hands?" Most managers today have this philosophy; they have a job they need done but they're stuck with workers who have families, problems, habits (good and bad) -- all of which bring "unnecessary" complexity into the workplace and getting things done.

Companies and managers with this industrial revolution mindset treat workers as "production units" who can be exchanged, replaced, bought and sold as necessary to complete a task. One manager I worked with had a habit of referring to our developers as "coders" and would reassign them at will to new and different projects. In the end he had a bunch of "coders" all right -- who had no loyalty to any product, team, or the company.

Pollard argues that "one of the most important factors of the success and growth of [his] business" was the "simple truth of recognizing the potential, dignity, and worth of the individual." Pride in the results of ones work (and therefore a desire to do quality work regardless of compensation or working conditions) begins with "dignity, pride of accomplishment, and recognition for a job well done."

Interestingly, the first objective of ServiceMaster is "To honor God in all we do." Pollard recognizes that there are absolutes -- Right with a capital "R" and Truth with a capital "T" -- and that those absolutes proceed from God. He does not deny the presence of God in the world, and therefore in the workplace. While the company is not a church, nor does it have a doctrinal statement, it recognizes that the worth of individuals can be truly found only in acknowledging the fact that people are created in the image of God.

This emphasis on recognizing the dignity of employees, customers and competitors forms the basis on which ServiceMaster builds its business. You wouldn't think that these kinds of philosophical mission statements would have an effect on the bottom line, but according to Pollard, they do. Good leaders, in Pollard's view, live by these principles.

The 21 principles of leadership practiced by ServiceMaster are worth emulating, in my opinion. They are:

1. We are opportunity seekers, not entitlement takers. We create and earn and cannot afford to sit and inherit.
2. We are value driven and performance oriented.
3. We eat our own cooking. We bet the egg money on our own performance.
4. We train and run for both the sprint and marathon. We rest, have fun, never quit, and always seek to learn.
5. We plan for succession and develop our future leaders.
6. The truth of what we say is told by what we do. "If you don't live it, you don't believe it."
7. If we cannot serve and sell with a passion for excellence, we cannot lead.
8. We believe in what we sell and deliver.
9. As we provide extraordinary service, we bring value-added to the customer that cannot be duplicated.
10. There are no friendly competitors.
11. We believe in a lean ad disciplined organization. We would rather buy a grand piano than employ or assign one unnecessary person.
12. We pay based on performance and promote based on potential, not belief, tenure, gender, race, or friendships.
13. Those who produce the profits should share in the profits. Those who produce more should share more.
14. We make and beat budgets.
15. We seek to know and increase our market share so that we can grow and increase the profitability and value of our business.. If we ignore our market share, we run the risk of losing our market and our business.
16. When we are wrong or fail, we admit it,. Truth cannot be compromised. We report on what has occurred or is anticipated, not on what will make us look good.
17. We promote others, not ourselves. We shoot against par.
18. We must have a spirit of independence without the malady of autonomy.
19. The customer comes first and should be our friend.
20. We are all prisoners of our hope. It is our hope that sustains us, and it is our vision for what could be that inspires us and those we lead. "don't doubt in the dark what you have seen in the light."
21. We have all be created in God's image, and the results of our leadership will be measured beyond the workplace. the story will be told in the changed lives of people.