Ask most print company owners what’s holding their business back and you’ll hear many of the same answers: equipment cost, technology gaps, difficulty winning new work and a competitive market. I almost never hear anyone say, “honestly, I think it’s the people.” But in most cases, that’s usually where the stall begins.
Not because their people are the problem, but because they are not aligned.
The real issue isn’t what you think
Most companies don’t go into stall mode because of a lack of effort, investment, or even talent. They stall because the right people aren’t always in the right roles. The goals may not be clear, and not everyone is working towards them for the same reasons. When that happens, I see growth slow down, culture become tested and see leaders tiptoeing around problems rather than solving them.
I use a fairly simple, but powerful framework: three questions every leader should be able to answer about folks on their team.
Right people: do they share your values?
Hiring for skills is necessary, but hiring for values is essential if you want to make it work. Most leaders have experienced the high skill, wrong-fit hire. This person looks great on paper but quietly upsets the culture and those around them. What we seem to overlook is that skills can be taught, but values cannot.
‘Right people’ are those who are in alignment with what your company stands for. They make the work environment better just by showing up – they are multipliers. When you have them, everything else becomes easier and when you don’t, almost nothing seems easy.
Right seats: alignment matters more than titles
Even your strongest performers can hold you and the business back if they’re in the wrong role. This is one of the most overlooked sources of misalignment I see in print companies. It could be a great relationship builder stuck in a process heavy operations role, or a super detailed oriented leader pushed into sales. Good people, wrong seats, and a recipe for disaster.
The right seat is where someone’s natural strengths meet with what the business actually needs, not just what the job description says. Titles can be changed, but role clarity is much harder. When those two things don’t align, performance can suffer and it generally does not end well.
Right reasons: why are they here?
This is a question most leaders don’t ask, and the one that reveals the most. Is your team motivated by a paycheck, or by something bigger? Is it growth, mission, recognition? The answer shapes how people show up, how they perform under pressure, and whether they’ll stay when things get tough. When it’s easy, anyone can do it, right?
From what I’ve seen, teams built on a shared purpose, common goals and on the right reasons will typically outperform teams built on compensation alone. Simon Sinek discusses that if someone works for you and they believe in what you believe, they will give you their blood, sweat and tears. If not, they’re there just for the money and they will abandon you if that should ever change.
Get your people aligned and focused on the work they are uniquely qualified to do. They’ll be more engaged, more collaborative and make a significantly bigger impact on your business. And who knows, you may have a little fun along the way.
Mike Philie helps owners and CEOs in the Graphic communications industry validate what’s working, identify what needs to change, and create a practical path forward.
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