3 ways to turn your employees into Wonder Women (and men)

If you’re a people leader who’s seen the movie Wonder Woman, you may be wondering how you can get your own small business’ employees to leap tall buildings in a single bound, remain relentlessly committed to their mission, and innovate their way out of every challenging situation.
 
You may, or may not, want your team to turn up to work in full costume (every day,) but you absolutely can turn them into a band of superheroes –greater than the sum of their parts.
 
We know that companies with highly engaged employees are more profitable, productive, have lower turnover and better work quality than their competitors – all of which directly affects your bottom line. And, (spoiler alert!) as you know from the movie, not having Wonder Woman-like employees on your team can lead to some pretty grim consequences.
 
So what’s holding them – and your business – back?
 
Assuming that your business is generally well run, that you’ve given your people the tools they need to do their jobs, and that you’ve got a solid organizational structure and decent talent, you may be scratching your head thinking, “what else can I do?”
 
1. Clearly communicate your company’s Mission, Vision and Values
In the movie, Wonder Woman is very clear why she’s leaving Themyscira – she wants to kill Aries, and save the world/humanity. When the going gets tough, she’s able to recall her mission, and why it’s so important to her.
 
She also uses her mission, vision and values as decision-making criteria – when faced with choices and compromises, she’s able to act decisively (understatement!) and in alignment.
 
However, for mere mortals in business, this can be more challenging. Many companies, especially smaller ones, haven’t fully articulated their mission, vision and values, or they're languishing as conference room posters instead of activating greatness.
 
The truth is, the smaller your company, the easier it is for your values to bring out your employees’ inner superhero. See below.
 
2. Co-create
Back on Themyscira, Wonder Woman was content to trust the values of the Amazons on faith – after all, her mother was their queen. Eventually, she uses those core values and beliefs to forge her own path – that’s innovation.
 
However, your employees may need a little more involvement in determining why and how they do what they do every day at work. Small business leaders often say that they don’t have a mission, vision and values, but that’s usually not actually true. Collectively, you and your employees probably have a pretty good intuitive understanding of your company’s purpose and how you can best achieve your goals.
 
If you’re very small – like a startup – you should develop values before you start hiring – they’ll have a big impact on who joins your company, how they behave once they’re there, and how long they stay with you. However, if you’ve already got a merry band, then get together, brainstorm and co-create your mission, vision and values as a team. When you develop them as a group they will be more resonant, and less likely to serve as the aforementioned, oft-ignored conference room art.
 
As a reminder, your:
Mission statement articulates the reason your company exists
Vision statement describes the successful future state of your business
Values are like a social contract; they describe how and why you work together.
 
3.Walk the talk
As a leader, you yourself may not feel fully confident (yet) deflecting machine gun fire with your shield and/or wrist bands, but that shouldn’t stop you from leading the charge when it comes to exemplifying the values you (and your team) have identified.
 
Remember, part of the value of values is that they serve as decision-making criteria, and that starts at the top.
 
For example, if you’ve selected ‘Celebrating our Successes’ as a value, then be sure that you actively recognize your team member’s amazing work. When you do, be sure to reference your ‘Celebrating our Successes’ value so that your people know that living them every day is an important part of who you are as a company, and a team.
 
Your people are your secret weapon
To be sure, those scenes of Wonder Women felling bad guys with her golden lasso and amazon warrior skills are pretty cool. But remember, it’s her empathy for the starving woman she meets in the trench that compels her to act. And maybe this is the most important lesson that Wonder Woman can teach us about how to run a company; human-centric businesses outperform others. When you prioritize employee experience and engagement, you too can reap the rewards – your very own band of superheroes.
 
For more information on building a values and purpose-driven company, check out the Resources page on our website.
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