I was reading something recently that looked at how Jesus selected his inner circle. Now I am a person of faith and that may not be your thing, but stick with me because I think we can agree that Jesus was a great leader.
This was tied to a story where Jesus was walking along and asked one of the most hated types of people to be part of his inner circle: a tax collector. As I read the note with additional application thoughts the author suggested good teams are built with lions and not goldfish. What does that look like?
We have a few fish who swim all day and eat a little. When we feed them they swim up to get the food, eat a little and return to swimming. Not very exciting. That would be like watching people dig dirt all day. They do the work well, but it is not very exciting. As a leader if you have followers they do their job well, but may be more like goldfish. Lions, on the other hand, are very different.
Different Personalities
A healthy team consists of people with who think differently. Multiple factors contribute to our unique perspectives, but one of the most impactful can be individual personalities. Some people are aggressive while others are more reserved. Some are task oriented while others are more people focused. This natural hardwiring will influence the perspective people bring to the team.
Leader, may I encourage you to learn how to embrace the differences. I know it feels a lot easier to surround ourselves with people who see the world as we do and think as we do and just “get us,” but in the long run we hurt our team. Examine the personalities on your team. Is there an analyzer, a driver, a peacekeeper, and an extremely relational person? If you have each of these then you have a greater chance of a healthy team . . . as long as everyone is headed the same direction.
Different Strengths
Throughout our lives we develop different strengths. Some strengths we identify early on while others may have developed through experience. Maybe taking the lead comes natural to you and you have been that way since you were young. Maybe you have always asked lots of questions. Other strengths you may have developed through your professional experience. If someone on yo
ur team was previously an engineer they may have a strength in seeing the details and solving complex problems.
As a leader evaluate your team and find their strengths both professionally and personally. Take time to determine with your teammates where you can leverage their strengths. When this occurs the individual and team both thrive.
Willing to Initiate
We can’t see either the personality or the strengths of fish when we feed them. When training lions I have a feeling each one has unique personalities and strengths. One clear difference between a fish and a lion can be seen in their approach to being fed.
A goldfish will wait until its owner drops in the food and then go get it. A lion is a hunter! A lion will prowl around looking for its food. A lion will wait for the perfect opportunity and attack its prey chasing it down until it catches it and has it’s meal. A lion has an agenda while a goldfish waits on its owner.
A team of lions w
ill not be easy to control, but an effective leader does not control his or her team but influences them. As a leader of lions take time to understand the individuals on your team and when they initiate in ways you may not have preferred create time to communicate openly to assure you are both going the best direction for the team and maximizing the individual’s strengths.
Want to understand your team members personalities so you can lead them more effectively? Contact me to discover how I can help your team or go here to invest in a Maxwell DISC Personality Indicator to understand your style. Lead Well.
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