On Signal: Leading Brilliant Growth Through Deep Stakeholder Respect

George Wright III and co-host John Harding discuss leadership and propose that an organization’s greatest growth opportunity lies in deeply valuing and investing in its key stakeholders: employees, customers, suppliers, partners, and others.

They talk about “deep respect” as a growth strategy and cite research linking engagement and organizational health to higher profitability, productivity, and shareholder returns. Two primary obstacles are outlined: the “mission-strategy-success gap,” where few employees understand or connect daily work to strategy, and the “productivity avalanche,” driven by constant digital interruptions and low-value activity.

Harding introduces “being on signal” as the solution: dual alignment with the organization’s mission and each stakeholder’s definition of success, supported by clarity, rhythm, measurement, trust, and systems such as Franklin Planner.

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Episode Timeline

01:26 Stakeholders Drive Growth

04:35 Respect as Strategy

09:05 Mission Strategy Gap

13:07 Productivity Avalanche

16:20 On Signal Solution

20:21 Franklin Planner System

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Episode Transcript

Welcome to the Episode – George & John on Leadership & Growth

[00:00:24] George Wright III: Okay. Welcome back to the Franklin Planner Podcast. My name’s George Wright III, and I’m joined with my co-host John Harding. John, how are you doing today? 

[00:00:32] John Harding: Doing great, George. Good to be at this with you. Thank you. 

[00:00:34] George Wright III: Yeah. You know, we have some amazing stuff to talk about today and we decided that we wanted to have an episode with just the two of us because we had some great information to share. And just to set up our listeners just a little bit; and by the way, if you have not already, make sure that you subscribe to the podcast and don’t miss any episodes ’cause we’re, we’re gonna have a lot of things coming out. We’re launching a new magazine, we’ve got some great new programs coming out, and we wanna make sure that you don’t miss anything. 

So. Today [00:01:00] we’re gonna talk about leadership, and John is probably the best guy to do this, not, not only as a, an owner and board member at Franklin Planner, but his brilliant work he’s done with leaders over decades. And John, today we’re gonna talk a little bit about what it takes to really grow your organization and some of the things that might be standing in your way. So, do you want to kind of give our listeners a little bit of a, a landscape of what we’re gonna talk about today? 

[00:01:26] John Harding: I’d love to, and I think, I think this is relevant, George, lemme just say this upfront. Uh, you know, our mission is to, to help people, inspire people to lead their life, like with greatness. Also, wherever you are, your family, your team, but think specifically of an organization to help lead that organization with greatness. We have talked a lot and we know it’s vital to be clear about your vision, your mission, your values, your goals, and what, when we say growth, most [00:02:00] people wanna grow, they wanna improve. Most companies wanna improve. So I’m gonna kind of bring together today and together you and I are gonna propose here kind of a hypothesis. And to me it’s big and bold and it is just founded on principles, and here’s the hypothesis, that your greatest opportunity to grow, like a huge asset sitting, right where you have control of it will be the people that are currently around you responsible for growth. 

The Hypothesis: Deep Respect for Stakeholders Is a Powerful Growth Strategy

John Harding: So I’m gonna use a couple terms. If I use the term stakeholder, I’m going to add a little meaning to that. Your most vital and valuable relationships and think all around you, and I’m gonna speak mostly as a team or organization. Just draw a 360 circle around your organization and think of all the people and with each person is a relationship. And those people make decisions. And our, kind of our hypothesis today for people to [00:03:00] think about as leaders is the way, the greatest opportunity you have, the fastest path, the straightest path, is to shift some of your mindset, a more robust, more invested mindset into how deeply important these people are, and show even a greater level of respect. We’re gonna talk about the concept of being on signal that relates to being really in tune with those people and having them in tune with you. We’re gonna talk about two obstacles that are really presenting themselves that block this. 

[00:03:33] George Wright III: Yeah. 

[00:03:34] John Harding: And then a couple of options to move through it. So it is, I think it’s so cool. It’s a big thing. And we’re gonna try and shine some light on that. 

[00:03:43] George Wright III: Well, and John, not only that, but I think some people might think, well, of course your people are very important. But what we’re gonna talk is we’re gonna talk strategic, we’re gonna talk tactics, we’re gonna talk about the system. We’re gonna do what we can to help you to unpack why we really believe that [00:04:00] your growth, brilliant growth, is gonna happen by really investing in your mindset around your stakeholders. So let’s start for just a minute and let’s talk about that topic because when you say stakeholders and the people in your organization and and, and in your life, I think a lot of people value stakeholders. They value the people in their life, but you would like to really give them the focus at a deeper level of why it’s not just about being a leader and, and around people, but how investing in stakeholders can really take root in growing your business. 

[00:04:34] John Harding: Absolutely. And let me just give you, I’m gonna give you some facts quickly and a few uh, terms there, George, and then we can kind of establish that and go to the obstacles. So just ponder a couple of things here. Think stakeholders. So let me give you some terms. Internally, sometimes we say leaders, teams, employees, customers, patients, clients, partners, investors, suppliers, communities. So. Think of all those [00:05:00] people or categories. And again, there’s a person, there’s a relationship in there.

Think about this too. You know, whatever you would use to describe value. You know, black, gold, just whatever you’d say. These people, they’re like priceless. And, and in this case, strategically priceless, like a competitive advantage. So lemme give you a couple of facts when we talk about it. When you align or you connect and you have a high trust level and you’re working together on something that matters to both, uh, sometimes these words are, are used high trust, you’re aligned and you’re succeeding. We’re gonna kind of peel those onions a little bit, but with that, it creates what we call brilliant growth. And brilliant growth you’ll see is on signal. It’s success defined by the company or you say your organization, but then also by each individual stakeholder, and that’s new. That’s breakthrough, that’s reciprocal. You know, when, when [00:06:00] is a company so interested in a supplier that they’re trying to find out how can we help you succeed and, and legitimate, showing respect enough to find out what that success is and solve that so–

[00:06:12] George Wright III: Well, and John, you say, I actually like the way you’ve said it before because when we’ve talked, you’ve said things like deep respect for your stakeholders is actually a growth strategy, and people don’t think of it like that. They think, of course, I want to have respect, but they don’t think of it as a growth strategy, which is why this topic, I think is something that will shift a little bit of the thinking around leadership and stakeholders.

[00:06:32] John Harding: Right. Let me give you some, I’m gonna use some terms that you’re gonna say, oh yeah, I know about engagement, but I want you to think about it with this. Wow, is there an unbelievable kind of something we’ve glossed over? We’ve put effort to, but we do that in HR or somewhere like this. This is a huge central strategy, uh, because inside each of these people and these relationships is growth and its brilliance. They know what to do, they know where the market’s going. [00:07:00] Then there’s their level of commitment. Do they care to tell you? And, and how do you get at that? So think of this: Gallup’s 2025, uh, state of the global workplace says that 20, companies that are engaged with their people, and we will kind of go into that another time. 23% more profitable, 18% more productive. 

McKinsey’s organizational health research, now these are very legit firms that are studying organizations with strong health, meaning clarity, alignment, and committed leadership deliver three times shareholder return. 

Bain and Company that I’ve done some work with, reports that highly engaged organizations significantly outperform peers in revenue growth and customer advocacy.

All of the major firms that are working with employees and teams have this. So you said it earlier, George. The question isn’t whether people matter, but see if this makes sense. The question is whether we can tap into even [00:08:00] greater power through showing a deeper level of respect for these relationships. And do we have a system designed to do these things? Build trust, increase alignment or unity. Right? To what matters. 

[00:08:13] George Wright III: Right. 

[00:08:13] John Harding: And success for each of those to succeed. So that’s kind of the 

question is, oh yeah, we know about that. It’s like, wait a minute. Look at the rigor you put into, 

George Wright III: Yeah. 

[00:08:24] John Harding: Your financial systems. Lemme just finish this. Look at the rigor you put into your operational system. Look at the rigor you put into safety. Just shift some of that and your mindset of importance over here. Let’s put some rigor into really helping our stakeholders succeed and helping them understand us. That’s sort of the concept.

Obstacle 1: The Mission-Strategy Success Gap – Lack of Awareness & Commitment

[00:08:45] George Wright III: Yeah, and I, I think that the important thing to really ask, ’cause at least it’s the question that comes up for me, is, if people do have respect and trust for their stakeholders and they recognize the value, and clearly there’s a value, even with the statistics you gave, what is keeping them [00:09:00] from truly tapping that growth?

You talked about a couple of obstacles that are keeping ’em from tapping that growth. Let’s start by talking a little bit about this widening gap between their mission and strategy, and I’m assuming that’s one of those main traps or obstacles to really tapping into your stakeholders. 

[00:09:17] John Harding: It is. Let’s just hit two in the time we have today. There will be others, but these are major and there’s a way to break through ’em. But let me just take, time me on this, two minutes. So we call this the mission strategy success gap, and this is just simply, think of all your stakeholders and we’ll just use today an example of leaders and teams and employees internally. But I’d love you to think of customers, suppliers. Oh, do they need to know our mission? 

[00:09:44] George Wright III: Vendors, yep. Yep. 

[00:09:45] John Harding: Are they committed? That’s, again, the breakthrough is yes, but, but we’ll focus here. So here’s a couple of cool stats. Gallup reports that only 40% of employees strongly agree that their organization’s mission makes them feel [00:10:00] important.

Kaplan and Norton years ago, and they’ve been great at this for years, did the balanced scorecard. Their research showed that only 5% of employees had a clear understanding of strategy. Only 85, 85% of leaders only talked about strategy for one hour a month, and only 60% of or 60% of organizations didn’t even link their strategy to budget. So just think only 5%. 

Now I have a test for you and I wanna say strategy by these kind of examples doesn’t fail because of poor intent. Some major reasons it fails is poor translation and commitment, therefore, you know, unable to execute. But I have four questions, George, before we move on to the second obstacle.

Let me just put this out there. Think internal the way I’ll ask this, but also think customer suppliers and others. Number one, how many in your organization, what percent, how, however you wanna look at it, are [00:11:00] aware of the mission, vision, and values and critical goals of the organization? Number two, of those that are aware, how many of your fellow employees or those you lead are deeply committed to that mission and goals? Three, of those that are aware and committed, how many can articulate or say, here’s the two or three things I’m doing today that directly connect. To move that mission forward. So those are when, when Gallup has done that research, it kind of comes down to 4%, 10%, 

George Wright III: Very few. 

[00:11:35] John Harding: 90%, holy cow, don’t see this. So that’s a gap. Now here’s the unique thing that we’re proposing with this idea. Now, on the flip side of the relationship, how clear are leaders in the organization? About these same questions only from the perspective, each of perspective of each of these individual stakeholders. What is their mission and what are their aspirations? What is success for [00:12:00] me as a leader or as a customer? 

So what if you could measure this, right? What if each stakeholder could know this, know what your mission is, measure it, and what if you could, again, know theirs. And what if they could make that happen?

Boston Consulting Group says that companies with this kind of alignment between strategy and daily execution, which does mean being aware and also being committed and willing to offer my brilliance to make it happen, are 40% higher in their profit, which is incredible. So that is kind of the strategy gap that’s presenting itself in the way.

Obstacle 2: The Productivity Avalanche – Digital Overwhelm & Shallow Work

[00:12:41] George Wright III: Yeah, I mean that’s, that’s obviously something that’s apparent in the organizations and so I’m not sure, I think rapid growth and I think changing marketplaces and all those things make it even more and more difficult because I do think a lot of businesses aren’t even really clear on what their mission is, let alone how they can [00:13:00] tie it to their stakeholders. So yeah. What are, what are the other challenges that businesses face with trying to really connect with their stakeholders? 

[00:13:07] John Harding: I’ll give you one more. And these two together almost, you know, if you solve these, they’re amazing. So think if you did know the mission, you were aligned and we knew what your personal goals were, and we were set, what, what else is in the way? And we call this the productivity avalanche. And this is a problem to solve. It’s an opportunity to capitalize on. We dream about this. We’re constantly trying to solve this, you know, in what we do at Franklin Planner. So this is a kind of a, something you and I have been talking about, Microsoft’s 2025 work trend index reports that 68% of employees lack sufficient uninterrupted focus time.

Um, research from the University of California Irvine shows knowledge workers are interrupted three, uh every three to five minutes. Microsoft did one that said every two minutes. So we’ve got a lot of research [00:14:00] there, and this requires more than 20 minutes to regain focus. So just the way that digital has overwhelmed us, the way we work, there’s sort of a pervasive level of shallow work where we’re not near as productive, just, and it’s, it’s attacked us all. And so there’s, there’s a lot of research there. Time management studies show that workers spend up to 60% of their time on low value activities, digital noise, admin, meeting, checking, email, phone alert. So we do know this.

We know that digital technology has brought us a couple of really powerful things, and we’re grateful for that. It also has brought kind of a avalanche of distraction that has pushed all organizations, their productivity way down. So this is a problem to solve. I wanna mention one other thing that’s part of this, and it’s a lack of just engaging the power of [00:15:00] goal science. Uh, and that’s part of this productivity of, there’s such proven research behind setting goals daily in productivity and following through on those and empowering leaders to cascade those. That’s kind of in this productivity avalanche as part of a weakness. But it is sitting there as a huge opportunity, uh, uh, to, you know, really cut through this.

The Solution: Getting “On Signal” – Dual Alignment with Your Mission and Your Stakeholders’ Success

[00:15:24] George Wright III: Yeah, I think modern distraction for sure in everybody’s life, not just in business, is keeping us from being product– productive overall, in addition to task switching and, you know, overwhelm and things like that. So I could see how that’s a problem. So you’re, you’re really making the case for the idea that if you want to tap into the brilliance and the growth of your stakeholders, you’ve gotta number one, respect and have a deep respect and focus on them, but you’ve got to align and clarify and shorten this gap between your mission and your strategy and find ways to eliminate this productivity avalanche, this, [00:16:00] digital overwhelm, and also the lack of productivity that happens from that. So how does, how do organizations go about this? Like, what do they do to try to solve these problems in order to tap in? They see the brilliance. They see the growth, they see the opportunity with their stakeholders and their people. But they know these challenges exist. How do they address ’em? 

[00:16:20] John Harding: Now that’s a great question. The, those that we’ve studied, that we’ve worked with, that have succeeded, have kind of been searching for and found a diff a few different ways. You know, in, in this article that we write in the Lead Your Life magazine, that is launching, this edition here in a few weeks, did we say this, “Leaders seeking brilliant growth must face this problem and solve it. It requires something different.” There is something different. We can’t lead the way that we’ve been leading. And today we’re facing a combination of things we haven’t faced before. Um, it requires clarity. It requires rhythm. It requires measurement, it [00:17:00] requires leadership, and it requires this high trust kind of reciprocity between each other. You know, the– our stakeholders, we’re a team. So this is kind of where we’ve, where I’ve, I guess I’ve focused on this term of being “on signal” and we focus some of our research. 

Let me try and just describe this, George, because being on signal we think is the solution and looking for principles for a mindset and tools and a system that fit you to do that, you know, is kind of the solution we propose for everyone to think about. Can I just give you a little more detail on what On Signal is?

[00:17:40] George Wright III: Yeah. Yeah. Because I think on signal is a great way to say that the solution is with your stakeholders and to pull out this growth is to be on signal in these areas that we’re talking about of having problems. And so, yeah, continue with that thought. 

[00:17:54] John Harding: Thanks for that clarification. And as I say this, just remember kind of these fundamental [00:18:00] premises. Wow, huge importance, deeper respect for the people around you. And I think I forgot to say this at the beginning, I’m gonna make this claim that every dollar, every cured patient, every service delivered, but every profit dollar and the value of your organization or however, whatever matters to you, I’m gonna propose flows not just through, but from these relationships. They aren’t just there in the way as, uh, you know, new technology delivers. They are the source of this. So that’s a premise. So an organization that is on signal, we say it is on signal when it’s tightly aligned with its mission, vision, values, and most vital goals. And simultaneously, and this is again, I’m highlighting a breakthrough, something different, simultaneously tightly aligned with the mission and aspiration and definition of success of [00:19:00] its most vital stakeholders. All these groups that I listed earlier, and when we say organization, we mean leaders, teams, and individuals. And when we speak of the definition of success of these individual stakeholders, we mean from their perspective. On real time, not a year ago, consistently. And so that’s really, really important. So think of this state, being on signal is a dual alignment with our mission. And with each stakeholder’s mission, you bring those together. That signal unlocks commitment, brilliance, and both and everyone are succeeding. So that’s the concept of on signal.

[00:19:38] George Wright III: I love it. I love it. Because that is really the key is bringing together those two things, which obviously, uh, being with Franklin Planner, one of the systems and ways that you can use that internally, externally in your organizations, in your day-to-day life. Um, it’s such a great system and way to do that.

And you know, obviously this is something that we have [00:20:00] studied for, you know, the company studied for decades, leadership and the misalignment. And when you look at the idea that if you truly wanna align with your stakeholders, you’ve gotta close the gap in your mission and your strategies, and you’ve gotta eliminate overwhelm and all of these things lead to this idea of having a system that does it as well, which Franklin Planner is a great solution for. Wouldn’t you agree? 

[00:20:20] John Harding: Yeah, I would. And I, and even if you, if you just were with us so far and you just stopped for a minute, lemme just stop before we kind of wrap this up and kind of give people something to think about. There’s a, there’s sort of a rare opportunity, so I kind of want to ask you the questions if, if we’ve made any sense here as we’ve talked about this. Pause for a moment. If brilliant growth originates from your most vital relationships or your stakeholders, if alignment requires clarity of that mission, so think of that gap we talked about and clarity of the individual’s success too. If reciprocity, you know, unlocks commitment and also [00:21:00] that commitment that people will share their best thinking. Then a powerful question is kind of sitting there, is there a system and what are the principles and the mindset of that, that actually could do this and that could make this happen? Helping, so let me summarize, helping an individual in a work setting consistently clarify their mission, define their success, measure their progress, and seriously grow deliberately. And at the same time, sort of simultaneously from the organizational side, allow that organization to lead forward with, focus on its goals.

And really, few have found that we, we know about pressing from the organizational side and this is what we do and then we, we know from the individual side, well that’s kind of done at home or privately and, and it’s just been rare that leaders have been able to get their hands around this until there was a system. And so that’s kind of matches there, there really, until there [00:22:00] was a system to do that. And there is. 

[00:22:02] George Wright III: And what is that? 

[00:22:04] John Harding: Historically, and now it’s been 40, 40 years, 40 years ago Franklin Planner changed that equation and introduced, introduced this mission, vision, value, goal machine that ignited the individual and enabled them to kind of chart their path to lead their life, and at the same time become interested in, aware, know, breakdown, work on at the same time in their role on a team, in an organization. Super powerful efforts on the same page, on the same day, that same week, to bring those together and allow an organization to use that simple, the powerful system as a leadership system. And so that, you know, that’s kind of the, the power that we’ve seen. So over 15 million people, over 40 years, many leaders and companies have proven this and now, what what we’re [00:23:00] finding, what we’re seeing is it’s actually never been as important as it is now because of these obstacles, because of this gap between strategy and awareness and how do I put it together, and then this huge avalanche that has pulled everybody away in much of that productivity. So it’s so cool to think of, hey, there is something here. There are principles that we could apply to this huge problem and huge opportunity. 

Final Challenge: Shift Your Mindset, Invest in Stakeholders, and Use a Proven System

[00:23:26] George Wright III: Yeah, it really is, um, a pretty seamless way to pull together what matters most with driving productivity, strategy and goals. And, you know, for those of you listening, you know, what we want to do is if you’ve learned some content here and you’ve gotten this message and you’ve, you’ve really grabbed onto this idea that your stakeholders are your, your best strategy for growth, and you, you recognize the obstacles. You can sit down and you can revisit your personal mission statements. You can identify ways to align your organization and clarify your [00:24:00] strategies and be, you know, clear and aligned with what you’re doing. So that’s what we would challenge you to do. And we’d also like to hear from you. If you have ideas, thoughts around this topic, hit us up. Uh, let us know that what you’re struggling with, what’s you’re winning at, what you feel is working in your organizations. This is the reason we have these topics and the reason we share these ideas with you.

[00:24:20] George Wright III: Uh, with that said, John, is there anything else you want to add before we end our episode? 

[00:24:24] John Harding: I really appreciate the opportunity to talk about this. I think my invitation is, uh, for individuals and leaders just to think about the depth of the opportunity in showing greater respect for, and seeing where all of your success comes from and shift some of your rigor, some of your mindset, just a little bit of your investment to measure that, to focus on that, to break through these obstacles and get on signal with people with the goal to help them succeed. And that reciprocity will bring brilliance your way. And then of [00:25:00] course, you’ll look for systems that do that, look for opportunities to do that. You know, our research is that the Franklin Planner system has been powerful at working at that, but I just invite you to think about this. And really help people in this. And you’ll see growth, you’ll see opportunities. If you’ll measure it, show your respect, stay with it, and help people succeed. This way you will grow in and achieve your goals. 

[00:25:28] George Wright III: Yeah. Such a great, powerful message. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. We hope that you’ll join us again next week. We have some great stuff coming out, and as John mentioned, and I mentioned earlier in the episode, we have a brand new magazine coming out, the Lead Your Life magazine with some great content articles. We want to be able to share these timeless principles with you, help you to align with what matters most in your life. And so thanks for joining us today. We look forward to talking with you again on the next episode. Have a great day. 

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The Franklin Planner Team