Often times, companies are not doing what they preach and it all starts from the top. Do you, as the CEO of the company, know what your mission or purpose is - WITHOUT having to look up a piece of paper? Is your mission/purpose easy to follow and execute or is it just a fancy statement nobody understands?

Do you know your products inside out, so well that you don't have to think about? When a customer not knowing who you are complains about an issue with your product, can you walk him through to solve the issue or point him to the right person to do it? I don't mean giving him an 1-800 number where he has to wait on hold for 45 minutes.

When Ikea senior managers get hired, they are presented with an empty office in a middle of which there are boxes of a desk, a chair, a lamp and their respective assembly instructions. The manager has to assemble his own furniture. After all, if he can how can he expect the customers to do it on their own?