By Amy McDonald, FONA President

If you say the acronym “CPI” around FONA, everyone knows what it stands for. CPI stands for Consistent, Persistent, Insistent – and it’s a motto for our leadership model. We strive to be consistent and persistent in our values, and in our commitment to growth. Here is what I look for from consistent, persistent, and insistent leaders.

Consistent

Being consistent is about defining expectations, and defining what success looks like. For consistent leadership, all the behavioral drivers moving in the same direction. Leaders at all levels are serving as role models in living out core values and behavior.

Consistent leadership looks like…

• A disciplined and clear narrative. Leaders shouldn’t be afraid of repeating themselves. Consistency starts with words.

• A consistent leader is inherently trustworthy. They build loyalty because they do what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it. This is the age-old idea of “leading by example,” which is foundational to consistent leadership

Persistent

Keep knocking on that door. Persistence is that never-give-up mentality. For leadership, we know it takes patience to grow culture. It takes a constant drive forward, collecting wins (and therefore increasing motivation) as we go.

Persistent leadership looks like…

• Empowering people to make decisions towards the end-goal. If a leader is consistent, then their people should be armed to make great decisions.

• Rejection of a scarcity mindset. When the phrase “resources constraints” is allowed to be the prevailing discussion — we know we are off the winning path. Persistent leaders create a mindset of abundance and a “let’s do this” culture.

Insistent

Insistence is really about commitment and accountability, even if it means disagreement. There are some things around FONA that are simply non-negotiable. An insistent leadership requires creation of objective measurements – like monthly reports, sales dashboards, daily shipment reports.

Insistent leadership looks like…

• A champion of mirror reflections. Insistent leaders use data address patterns before they negatively impact results.

• Courageously — but lovingly — telling the truth and creating teams that do the same. An insistent leader holds people up, cheers them on, but is not afraid to hold them to account.

At FONA, we are working smart to make sure that Consistent, Persistent, and Insistent leadership is our only way of doing business. In fact, we have just begun a customized management development program where we are building CPI based management skills and best practices across our organization.

Share with us

Does any of this play into your business? What ways do you strive to be a consistent, insistent and persistent leader?

We’re always happy to hear from you! Email feedback@fona.com or visit www.fona.com/chat, and let us know what you think.

Thanks for reading,