Creating a Culture of Consistency in Your Firm

by Anne Bachrach

Without a doubt, one of the hallmarks of successful people in business is their ability to be consistent, both at work and in their personal lives. Creating a steady cadence in life allows us to be less stressed, more productive, and to experience a high level of contentment and success year in and year out. While cultivating consistency isn’t easy, it is an incredible skill that is vital to reaching your full potential.

But what does it mean to be consistent? Is it merely delivering the same quality of service day in and day out? Is it the ability to present a true version of yourself while at work and also while at home? Is it gritty, focused discipline that doesn’t turn back from goals once they have been set? In all honesty, consistency is all of those things and so much more.

Your trustworthiness, your business reputation, your relationships – they all hinge on consistency. A life lived with dependability will be marked with success and accolades. A life that is poorly managed and does not adhere to a code of structure and consistency will quickly devolve into stress and disorganization, both of which are detrimental to the success and strength of a company.

Consistency allows you to accept and provide accountability

A healthy workplace is one that has a solid culture of accountability and collaboration. As people, we work the best when we feel safe, heard, valued, and challenged. If standards of success and expectations are kept consistent, it is easy to know if you are living up to the expectation set before you or not. Otherwise, it can be confusing and frustrating trying to discern whether or not you are doing a good job.

Eric Holtzclaw, a contributor for Inc. and a well-known entrepreneur, says: “I ask my employees to be accountable for their deliverables and goals. They should expect the same in return from my leadership. I put a priority on making time for and being available to my team. I work to establish consistent and recurring meetings when a project or aspect of the business requires attention. The simple fact that there is a set time to report on progress is often the catalyst that moves an initiative along to a successful end.”

When your team knows they can depend on you to provide dependable, measured feedback and guidelines for them, they can easily settle into a routine and embrace their workflow with focus and intensity. Likewise, when you are in a disciplined routine you are more likely to allow people to speak into your life as accountability partners and to work unwaveringly toward your own success goals.

Consistency gives you a structured way to review progress

In order to measure your success and evaluate if your business trajectory is taking you where you want to go, you need to have consistent results and a documented history to review. You can’t appropriately evaluate business initiatives, client relationships, product launches, or income goals if you have not consistently been tracking progress or providing evaluation points along the way.

Consistency helps you honestly look at things based on data, and not on your feeling of how things are going. Feelings can often lie to us, painting things with rose-colored glasses, whereas detailed business metrics and consistent review helps keep us laser-focused on the true picture of how things are going.

Consistency reflects integrity and cements your character

On both a personal and business level, your ability to be consistent speaks volumes about your personal integrity and the strength of your character. The ability to say what you mean, to follow through with promises, and to work honestly and transparently will attract clients that respect the work you do and that trust you to work with their best interest in mind.

If the people you serve can have that kind of unwavering faith in you and your company and in your ability to do a good job for them, they are more likely to refer you to others, to remain long-term clients, and to pay the rates you request. Not only that, but your personal relationships will be stronger the more that the people you care about are able to trust that you will come through for them when they need you, or that you will follow through on your word when a promise has been made.

Create a culture of consistency in your organization by creating dependable, clear guidelines for how you want your employees and also yourself to interact with clients. Having a measurable business metrics and an action item list that you can check off each day, along with a mission statement that unites your team and gives everyone a clear vision to buy into is important. Create something easily understandable that every person that works with you can clearly understand, embrace, and implement.

About the author

Anne M. Bachrach is known as The Accountability Coach™ and has been called The Accountability Pit-Bull™. She has over 26 years of experience training and coaching. Small business owners and Financial Professionals who utilize Anne’s proven processes make more money, work less, and enjoy a more balanced and successful life. Anne is the author of the book, Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule!, and Live Life with No Regrets; How the Choices We Make Impact Our Lives; The Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, and more. Enjoy a myriad of proven resources that are available to you so you can enjoy the kind of business and life you truly want.

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