I’m a huge football fan (soccer to you North Americans) and live to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone and watch the Reds put me through agony every game they play.Recently the Reds defeated Bayern Munich in a Champions League match 3-1 to earn the right to progress to the quarter finals.Of course the Liverpool media were all over the win, and a comment by the Liverpool Echo’s James Pearce caught my eye.He labelled the Red’s domination of their opponent this way: “Liverpool played with real maturity and control— rock solid defensively, tireless in midfield and packing a punch going forward. There was a gulf in class .”
Gulf in class
What an effective way to describe the way they beat their competitors. It wasn’t that the Reds performed better than Bayern; it was more that they completely dominated them in an incomparable way.Liverpool outmatched Bayern and we’re in a completely different category than their opponents; it wasn’t an incremental difference between the two, rather it was a huge gulf. I got to thinking about how
gulf in class is such a great way to describe an organization that was in a different class than their competitors. One that was unmatched by any other; one that was separate from the herd.About the
gulf, Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead said it best: “You don’t want to be merely the best of the best, you want to be
the ONLY one that does what you do.”How can you develop a
gulf in class — a chasm — between yourself and your closest rival? There’s no silver bullet — no one thing — you can do; rather it’s several actions taken simultaneously that act synergistically and in unison
to produce consistently amazing performance.
Gulf in class organizations distinguish themselves from “the best” in these 5 ways.
Leadership Gulf in class organizations have amazing leaders who are dedicated in mind, spirit and body to
serving every member of their teambased on their individual unique needs. They are revered by their team and will do anything for them. In the face of criticism, they support their people; they take the heat when team members have an off day. Their end game is to help develop each team member as a human being not just a player.
Family Gulf in class organizations aren’t organizations at all, they’re a family and everything they do is to build and maintain it.“When I die, don’t bring me to the hospital. Bring me to Anfield. I was born there and will die there.” —
Steven GerrardThey represent the ultimate of inclusivity in the truest sense of the word. EVERYONE is emotionally invested in the organization and committed to their success: employees, customers, stakeholders — all those who touch them.
Patience Gulf in classorganizations are patient with the intent to build themselves to win in the long term. They aim to out perform their opponents over the long haul accepting that short term blips along the way are just a fact of life. They have a long term plan, they understand the competencies they need to achieve it and they consistently keep working hard to achieve their long term goals.They live the “form is temporary; class is permanent” mantra focussing on what is needed to create something that lasts forever rather than on transitory short term performance.Related:
7 Things to Do When You’re Stuck Loyalty Gulf in class organizations focus their energy on
creating undying loyaltyrather than enhancing employee engagement. They understand that loyalty is a two-way street requiring the organization to earn the right to ask for the support of their family members. They extend a hand and people respond emotionally to perform to the best of their ability.
Giving Gulf in classorganizations give unselfishly to the communities where they do business. The family “shows up” at local events to help those in need; employees volunteer their time and expect little in return.Community involvement is a high priority in a
gulforganization. It is viewed as a strategic program that commands a non-trivial portion of their annual operating budget. It is included as a fundamental value of the organization and has specific objectives along with customer focus and revenue growth.
Gulf in class represents the ultimate expression of competitive advantage, but is rarely seen due to the incredible investment that it requires. But to those families like the Liverpool Football Club who have chosen to follow this path,
success awaits.
