People!

I heard Dr. Ron Caloss say in a presentation once that the three biggest problems in organizations are: 

1) people, 

     2) PEOPLE, and 

          3) PEOPLE.  

He then shared that the three best solutions to the problems with which we deal in organizations are: 

1) people, 

     2) PEOPLE, and 

          3) PEOPLE.  

Humor aside, RC’s observation rings very true.  It suggests strongly that leaders of organizations would do very well to invest their time, energy, and resources into the development of PEOPLE as a primary focus (above infrastructure, above systems, and above policy implementation).  

Why?  RC’s pithy assertion holds true, regardless of the kind of infrastructure we have, irrespective of the breadth or quality of our systems, and apart from the "tightness" of our policies.  

Our PEOPLE ARE the brand of our organization. Period.