Team Building

What is the best way to learn about the challenges you will be facing in new surroundings?

Achieving higher learning through the use of computers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This won’t be news to anyone:  We live in an information society.  In my family there are three laptops, two ipads, four smartphones, and many books in our library (the books are mostly mine – I haven’t completely given in yet).

I think we are pretty average for a family with two Millennial children and parents who have the daily news pushed to our iphones and ipads.  This is the way information is shared today; online and at your fingertips anytime you need it or want it.

As you can tell I love information, and I love how we can access it anywhere anytime.  But, and this is a big one, I believe you learn the most from being around people and learning first-hand what challenges exist in new surroundings.

George Washington Carver said, “Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books.”

Navy Commander Michael Abrashoff had a saying by which he led: “The most important thing that a commander can do is to see the ship from the eyes of the crew.”

Do you agree that studying on the internet and from books is great, but without living with the issues you won’t know what’s really going on?

Do you want to have the best team working for you? Good leaders look at people’s strength and make use of it, while great leaders look at people’s potential and make the best of it.

A leader’s job is to see where others can go and open the right doors for them to pass through.  A leader’s job is to focus on what is there – strengths – and remove the focus from weakness – that which is not there.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, “A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.”

Michelangelo said, “A great statue already exists inside a block of stone. The sculptor’s role is to uncover it.”

If you want the best team, you have to intentionally focus your leadership efforts on unleashing the greatness inside of everyone you influence.

Do you remember who recognized greatness in you?  Who told you that you could be anything you set your mind to? Was it a parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, pastor, boss?

To Everything Turn, Turn, Turn

 

In 1965 the American folk rock band The Byrds recorded the song Turn! Turn! Turn!  The message of the song is, to quote from one line, “There is a time to every purpose under heaven.”

We can all think of examples of this timing:

  • The seasons always come in order – spring, summer, fall, and winter
  • The phases of the moon always move in the same order from new moon to new moon.
  • The farmer has to till before planting and water before harvesting.

I have found that leadership also has a time to its purpose.  I call it the Three Phases of Leadership Development:

  • Relationship – Through the forming of a trusting relationship, the team will follow as the leader shows them how to be successful.
  • Understanding – By modeling after the leader’s example, the team will understand how to achieve their own success.
  • Knowledge – Through mentoring, the team will gain the knowledge of when to apply what is understood.

For your leadership journey to be successful, follow the Three Phases of Leadership Development with every new team.

Whenever Possible Follow the Road More Traveled

“Keep on the outlook for novel and interesting ideas that others have used successfully. Your idea has to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are currently working on.”

I was surprised when I first read this quote from Thomas Edison. Yes the same Thomas Edison that is the holder of 1,093 United States patents and the inventor of the phonograph and the incandescent light bulb among many other inventions.  Leaders are many times told to blaze their own trail; which is sometimes the right answer, but sometimes not.

In my many years of business I discovered that most people are genuinely convinced that their situations are so unique and so difficult that no one has faced quite the same circumstances before, let alone found a way to solve them.  In some way I think it is a bit of pride in the human condition that makes people want a difficult solution for their difficult problems.  But it doesn’t need to be difficult.  Often, eighty percent of a problem has been solved before, the other twenty percent is taking the initiative to accept the solution given to you and implement it.

Sometimes, we don’t need a better mousetrap; we just need to understand how to use the ones that are already out there.

Listen While You Work

“Leadership is influence, nothing more nothing less.”  I learned this from John Maxwell and I teach it to everyone I mentor.  The beginning of influence is trust, and trying to influence another person without first eliciting trust is as futile as trying to boil water outside of a kettle.  Trust, like the kettle, is the vessel in which all things work together to generate powerful action.

Developing trust comes from understanding one another.  Ralph Nichols, an expert in the field of listening, says, “The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

If you think about the command and control leadership style, you can picture the leader in front of a room filled with their employees and a microphone in their hand. They talk from the beginning of the meeting to the end of the meeting; telling their team what they need to hear.  That style of leader doesn’t understand their team, won’t develop trust with their team, and can’t influence their team.

Kevin Turner, the COO of Microsoft and former CEO of Sam’s Club once described the secret to Sam Walton’s success.  He said, “Walton didn’t have an open door policy; he had an open ear policy.”

The Anam Cara – Friend of the Soul

My family and I went to an Irish goods store over the weekend.  As I skimmed through limerick books, I was reminded of the many stories my Irish Grandmother told.  I bought a book titled Anam Cara, a Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue.  The name comes from the early Celtic tradition of a person who acts as a teacher and guide; that person was called the Anam Cara, or friend of the soul.  The book has many fables that teach Celtic lessons on various aspects of life.  One fable called “The King and the Beggar’s Gift” taught that difficult situations are often disguised opportunities for growth.

As I am reading Anam Cara, I am reminded of one of American History’s most famous leaders, Abraham Lincoln.  It is said that among his favorite books growing up were the Bible, Aesop’s Fables and The Pilgrim’s Progress.  Each one of these great books taught its lessons through parables, fables and allegories.

We know that Abraham Lincoln was a great story-teller. He often disarmed a crowd or an adversary with a folksy tale in which they could see themselves and understand his point of view.

As a leader, you are your team’s teacher and guide.  If you want to be their friend of the soul, their Anam Cara, you have to connect with them personally.   Following the path of great leaders before us, I recommend using parables, fables, or allegories to teach and guide.  Nothing gets to the heart like a well told story.

Do The Right Thing

When I was in the fifth grade my school decided to experiment with different styles of teaching.  My class was selected to receive cardboard boxes to store their books instead of desks.  Since we didn’t have desks, we could sit anywhere in the room we wanted.  This was all pretty fun until about halfway through the year, when everyone’s boxes began to wear out.  The tops fell off and there were tears in the sides.  This experiment was not going well at all.

One day our teacher announced that the students would have to pay to replace their boxes since they didn’t last.  Looking back, this wasn’t an extraordinary cost, but still, I didn’t attend a rich school.  Many of the kids in my class said they didn’t have extra money to support this type of cost.  The fact of the matter was we didn’t have a say in adopting this new teaching style, so we shouldn’t have to pay for new boxes.

Before I finish my story of the fifth grade boxes, let me tell you about Edmund Burke, one of the many historical leaders I studied while living in Virginia.  For more information on that topic see my blog from last week https://denisgmclaughlin.com/2012/09/13/filling-your-tool-belt/.

Burke was a member of the British Parliament before and during the American Revolution.   Known for his staunch support for the British Parliament, he nonetheless sided with the American colonies on the right of fair representation on taxation.  When the stamp act and then the tea act were passed causing the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, Burke saw that someone needed to take action to avert what were soon to be larger issues.  In April 1774, he gave a speech to Parliament in which he argued that Britain should maintain peace and end these unfair taxes.  Burke said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

As a leader, you are responsible for your team and must take action when negative situations arise within it.  Furthermore, like Burke, who sided with a potential foe because of his principles, a true leader will take action to guard the rights of anyone who is in harm’s way.

Now back to fifth grade.  I can proudly tell you I did do something.  I talked to the principal and explained that this experiment had not worked and the additional cost to the students in my class was not fair.  The principal ended the experiment and brought the desks back into the room.

I would like to finish this blog telling you that I have been heroic and successful in every situation like the fifth grade box story; but that wouldn’t be true.  I do stand up for the rights of others, but just like Burke’s speech didn’t avert the Revolutionary War, my actions haven’t always proven successful.  But that doesn’t keep me from doing something; don’t let it stop you either.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

My wife and I both grew up in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area. When we met as adults we shared stories of attending Cleveland Indians baseball games.  Not stories about the low attendance games at the old stadium by Lake Erie like the ones in the movie Major League; but stories about the sell-out crowds at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) during the 1990’s.  Some thought the new stadium brought the crowds; it probably did for a while.  But what kept the crowds coming were the team and their sustained success of five straight years in the playoffs and two World Series appearances.

How did the Jacob brothers accomplish this?  They invested in building a great team with established veterans like Orel Hershiser and Dennis Martinez at the mound.  They developed exciting young hitters like Albert Belle, Jim Thome, and Manny Ramierz.  The Jacob brothers were successful because their team was successful.  Like the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it he will come,” they invested in building a great team and the fans came.

The path to becoming a successful leader is the same as the story of the 1990’s Cleveland Indians.  Long term success in whatever you do requires that you invest in building your team.  If you surround yourself with established leaders while developing the next generation of leaders, success will come.

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