what makes illustrious great

"What Makes Illustrious Great"
Excerpt from The Best Kept Secret Podcast (Part 7/8)

Jay: One of the things that you were, I think, very articulate about in the first part of our show was the need for a leader to let go. A need for a leader to get beyond command and control and look outside of themselves to a team, be it internal or external. That always reminds me of that old saying, “You are the company you keep.” 

I think when someone looks to work with another company to help them, they want to know that they're working with the best because that is actually a reflection on them and the standards that they set and how they see themselves.

Joran: I have to respond to that because when you said, “You are the company you keep,” what I heard was the double entendre of not only surrounding yourself with amazing people who make it look easy and can do what you need, but also, you are the organization that you're leading, right?

It's both of those things. And you know, we'd say that the degree or amount of change that's available within the organization is equal to the degree and the amount of change that an accountable champion or leader can sustain. The organization will bear what the leadership can bear, right?

Jay: Indeed. And I wish I was actually the author of that quote, but I fear I was beaten to it by that very wise individual who goes by the name of Anonymous. Having said that, it certainly begs the question, “When people look at Illustrious to understand what it is that makes you great at what you do, what can they latch onto when they're looking for help?” 

Joran: What makes us great? I would go back to our values. We have a set of values that we live by – as every organization should. 

We've got three values that I think articulate who we are and what we believe. 

We are creative and outside-the-box thinkers, so Energizing Creativity is one of our core values.

Second, we are Committed to Quality Outcomes, which means that if we have to redo something and iterate again to get it right, catch all the misspellings, get the colors matched by hex code, and proofread the email five times, we do that. I don't want work going out to the clients that looks anything less than stellar.

Third, we are Compassionately Curious. We ask questions because we are coaches and facilitators and consultants and that art of inquiry and getting to the next “why” is the game we play, that's how we learn. That's how we get better. 

And, I will say, because I've mentioned the coaching we do a couple of times, I might add a fourth value in there, and that is a deep seated Belief in Human Potential. When I am with clients, I don't see them as the story they're telling. I see them as the white hot center, that light that is in them and that potential that they have to unfold and become and grow. That's what I see and that's who I'm working with. 

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