One of the most important decisions you and I make as leaders is, “Who’s on our team?” The results you’ll pursue will change over time, skills can be developed and community can be strengthened. However, if you have the wrong people around the table, your ultimate success will always be in jeopardy.
There’s something extremely powerful in a shared purpose. This may seem obvious to any of you trying to build a great team. But you’d probably be surprised how often teams do not have a common sense of purpose.
I’ve been fascinated by teams most of my life. I guess it started when I was about 6 years old. It was in the days before tee ball – I think it was just called baseball then. From that day until today, I’ve been on countless teams… some good, some really bad and a few great ones. I’ve been on sports teams of all kinds, church teams (or committees) and certainly scores of teams at work. One thing remains constant; the best teams seem to have figured something out that the others have missed. What is it?
There’s been a lot written over the last few years about how organizations can close the Knowing-Doing gap. That’s fantastic… However, I want to know how to close that gap for me personally! It amazes me how often I feel like I know what needs to be done and yet fail to get it done.
As the New Year approaches, many teams envision a better 2012. However, hopes and dreams require purposeful actions in order to become reality. Following are a few ideas that will help any team improve their performance in 2012.
People always watch the leader – whether you want them to or not. What are they looking for? Fundamentally, people are watching the leader for clues – clues regarding what’s important to the leader and clues to determine if the leader is trustworthy.
The fourth practice in the Great Leaders SERVE model is Value Results and Relationships. This is the most difficult of the five practices for many leaders – it’s certainly the most difficult for me. When I ask other leaders why this is so hard, they all know.
As you think about your childhood, can you remember going by car to some exciting destination? Okay, maybe it wasn’t exciting, but you were in the car and you asked the question that kids have been asking since Henry Ford produced the Model T – “Are we there yet?”
As I think about the topic of personal growth, my mind easily races to the men and women who invested in my development over the years. No one person could be singled out. There have been leaders who helped form my character and others that sharpened my skills.
The final facet of Engage and Develop Others is to develop others. For some leaders this comes very naturally and for others it is a discipline that must be cultivated. Regardless of the ease or rigor required, the leaders we admire the most figure this out.