TEAMWORK

Aug

2020

Resilient Leadership

I spent many years working with athletes. Some of those athletes were what we would call “tough” while some were “soft.” Reflecting back this toughness we were examining is the same as the resilience every leader needs to continue leading at a high level.

What is resilience?

When I looked up the definition I found “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness or the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape, elasticity”¹ This means that whether we are leading ourselves or others we need to have toughness and elasticity to lead effectively. How can we develop this resilience?

Have a Team

No matter what we do a team is essential. A little league coach is more effective and can handle the difficult players and parents when he or she has an assistant. This teamwork becomes even more important the bigger the vision. Coaching little league is one thing, but leading a multi-million dollar organization requires a much different and larger team in order to be effective and stay in the game.

To do something great you need resilience and a key to that resilience is your team. As leadership expert John Maxwell says in his book The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork:

“One is too small a number to achieve greatness.”

Adaptable Thinking

In his book The New Toughness Training for Sport author and sports psychologist Jim Loehr discusses how undisciplined thinking can “kick our emotional targets far out of range.”² What does this mean for leaders? Effective and resilient leaders must exercise what Loehr calls “tough thinking.”

By tough thinking I do not suggest we stubbornly hold to our ideas. When necessary this is true, but we must also be adaptable and willing to change our plans when necessary. On the other hand, when difficulties come tough thinking helps us stay focused. Loehr puts it this way:

“Tough thinking will keep you from panicking when things get crazy, calm your temper when you make the unthinkable mistake, and prevent you from surrendering when the battle appears lost.”

Resilient leaders adapt, are tough, and have the discernment to know in the situation which is needed.

Growth Minded

I won’t go into the details of defining a growth mindset in this blog, but you can read a little bit about it here. What I want to highlight is resilient leaders demonstrate agility in their thinking. They adapt and adjust as challenges come.

Imagine of a star running back. He sprints straight ahead one direction and quickly adjusts because of an obstacle in the path. This agility is rooted in a mindset that says “there is a way, I/we just have to find it.”

After reading these three aspects, which do you need to focus on to improve your resilience as a leader? Need help thinking into this? Contact me today for a no cost to you thinking partner session. Lead well.

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/resilience retrieved 6/21/20
Loehr, James. The New Toughness Training for Sport. Plume Book. 1994

Jun

2020

Three Keys to Building a Team

I was providing a leadership training to a local company and someone afterwards asked about sport coaching because of my past experience. As we talked I reflected on how some teams I had been around were very successful and some never got traction. Talent is a factor and work ethic, but three key components came to mind that impact every team regardless of talent or work ethic.

People Skills

“I have yet to find the person, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism.” Dale Carnegie

Many of us have had task oriented leaders . . . unfortunately I know I have been that person. That is ok, but as leaders we develop our ability to connect as we grow our people skills. As John Maxwell says in his book Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, connecting requires energy.

Leadership is inspiring and influencing others and that requires the ability to connect with others. Once I was talking to a leader who was starting a new position and as we discussed what he was doing as he began the role he said “building relationships.” As a task-oriented person that was a huge reminder to build an effective team I must connect with those I will lead and lead with. The ability to form strong relationships will strongly influence the second element.

Culture

Sports leadership expert Jeff Janssen in his excellent book on culture How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture reminds us multiple facets exist in a culture, but provides a simple definition:

“At its very basic level, culture is as simple as how things are done in your program. It is your program’s typical Way of doing things.”

Some teams I’ve been around created a culture where talented players started regardless of their effort in practice or elsewhere. This ultimately led to the demise of the team. On the other hand, I’ve seen teams create a “we” culture where everyone contributes their strengths to the common goal and they become champions. Be aware of your team or organization’s culture because it critically impacts results.

Leadership Style

In his book Primal Leadership Daniel Goleman discusses various leadership styles that either draw people in or repel them. He states: “Optimistic, enthusiastic leaders more easily retain their people, compared with those bosses who tend toward negative moods.” Maybe you’ve heard it said another way: people don’t leave companies, they leave leaders.

I explained the various leadership styles Goleman discussed in a previous post so I will not go in detail here. We all have a natural style, but does it serve us in every situation and what impact does it make on our organization?

People skills, culture and leadership approach are not mutually exclusive. They integrate to create the team. How aware are you of your organization’s culture, your people skills or even how you lead? Could it help you to have someone come alongside you to help think into these areas so you can improve both your personal results and the results of your team? If so, contact me.

Where we are now is not where we have to remain. If we are willing to be uncomfortable, stretch and grow then we can take our team to new heights. Lead Well.

Dec

2019

Laziness as a Leadership Strength?

It killed me to write that title as this goes against everything I naturally think, but stay with me for a minute.

I was taking advantage of the unseasonably warm December weather and removing the Christmas lights earlier than normal. I really did not want to pull out my adjustable ladder and set it up so I grabbed my quick folding three step ladder.

In all the years of hanging the lights I had never used this ladder because I thought it would take longer. I was wrong! Not only could I move the ladder quickly, but with a little creative thinking I avoided needing my clunky adjustable ladder at all.

Midway through this process of taking down the lights I realized being lazy served me well in this instance. Before I go further let me clarify that nothing replaces hard work, persistence, and quality work, but maybe laziness aligned with high standards has a role in leadership. Additionally, if leaders proactively engage the “lazy” people on their team they may find the following hidden strengths.

Creativity

At times the lazy people around us may not be complete bums, but are more relational and creative. They value spending time with people and building relationships a little more than completing tasks. This could be a strength because assuming they still value high quality work, they will find creative ways to accomplish the work in as little time as possible.

Leaders value quality and want to be successful. Could there be someone on the team who appears lazy, but is very creative? They will create innovative ways to accomplish the work so they can also quickly engage in other available opportunities.

Efficiency

No leader wants to waste time on an initiative and those perceived as lazy want to get the work accomplished as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time taking down the Christmas lights, so I chose the ladder that was quicker to set up and move, but still get the needed results.

As leaders if we provide clear expectations and a clear vision of what the final product should look like then we equip those who are “lazy” with the parameters to efficiently get results. The leader simply must get out of the way!

Teamwork

We have all experienced a project we must but did not want to do. We all want hard workers, but sometimes they try to do everything and fail to involve others. This is where laziness becomes a strength. If the lazy person focuses on what he or she does well and builds a supporting team to get the work done creatively and efficiently in all the other areas he or she does not excel in, then the results are better. Multiple minds working together create a better result.

As I said before I am not advocating laziness as a habit, but slowing down to what may feel like a lazy pace or tapping into those less driven individuals can potentially be beneficial. Who is a “lazy” person that may be a hidden leader on your team? How can being “lazy” occasionally help you become a better leader? Comment below.

Work hard, stay disciplined, allow a little intentional laziness and lead well.

Jan

2019

Learning from a Leader in the Banking Industry

Jeff and I were sitting in the green room behind the stage at the Forum Credit Union conference center discussing leadership. I had met Jeff only a few months previously and he is a genuine and caring man who desires to lead others in the best way possible.

Mr. Welch has the responsibility of overseeing finances as the CFO of Indianapolis based Forum Credit Union. Through my interactions with Jeff and others in this organization I have gathered this is an organization with an outstanding culture.

When we started our conversation, I asked him to explain leadership from his role in the organization. He believes he must bring clarity to where the organization was, where they are now and where they are headed as it relates to the financial details. Addressing these areas makes the numbers relevant to others in the organization. While answering those questions, he correlates the numbers to the organizational goals and how people are making a difference in their role. One additional question he asks himself as a leader who desires to be transparent and authentic is: how much is enough information?

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

Mr. Welch values people and that is evident in how he communicated with me, but also in his guiding leadership principles.

Communication

Many leaders have this as a foundational principle. Specifically Mr. Welch believes communication must be consistent and timely. If we are leaders who develop other leaders and not developing followers then we need to provide information in a manner that enables those we lead to make informed timely decisions. Consistent, timely communication enables that.

Relationships

In order to maintain strong relationships with those he leads Jeff seeks to build unity and trust. When a mistake is made he accepts responsibility for his part in it and makes it known by saying “we messed up.” This humble response builds unity and trust among his team. Jeff also takes time to think about each individual and how to be present with them in the way they need. He modifies his communication approach instead of expecting them to adjust to him.

DELEGATION

Mr. Welch’s third principle was the idea of delegation. He admits his struggle with being a perfectionist so this has been an area of great growth for him. Because of this reality I dove a little deeper on this idea and he provided some more detailed insights on effective delegation.

Provide a clear goal. As the leader he knows he must make the goal and expectations of the task/project clear. At the same time, he is willing to adjust his expectations for himself and others.
Create a win/win. Jeff has the humility to allow and encourage those he leads to push him to delegate. This atmosphere also encourages creating win/win situations where he distributes responsibilities to free his time while providing others with opportunities to stretch and grow their leadership.
Team thinking. When delegating a responsibility Jeff tries to create a team. A couple key questions for him are: what is the problem? Who needs to be involved? In answering these questions as accurately as possible he can build an effectively empowered team that will accomplish the goal.

This is a man who is authentic, humble and continually seeks to grow through his involvement in organizations outside of Forum. How about you? When it comes to relationships, communication, and delegation what is one way you can grow to become a more focused, effective, and purposeful leader? Need help thinking into this? If so, contact me. In the meantime, lead well.

Apr

2018

Four Qualities of Championship Team Builders

Have you wondered how a sport coach becomes an effective leader and builds unified championship caliber teams? I have been around coaches for many years and involved in the sports world on some level. I have seen coaches who demonstrate this ability with great ease and are consistently successful. I have also seen coaches who struggle with this.

I have seen talented teams do poorly and average to above average teams succeed beyond what anyone would have imagined. Without a doubt in order to have success there has to be a certain level of talent or skill which applies in all areas of life. You won’t have a high performing salesperson if they are not good at working with people or get many customers for a service oriented business like plumbing if your plumbers are not knowledgeable.

How do these successful leaders build unified teams? I have been reading a book that answers that question through looking at the lives of nine high level sport coaches. In his book Getting to Us Seth Davis shares the stories of the lives of coaches such as Coach K, Coach Urban Meyer, Coach Izzo from Michigan State and others. Each of these coaches demonstrate what he calls a PEAK profile to develop unified teams.

Persistence – in the classic book Think and Grow Rich Napoleon Hill spends an entire chapter discussing the importance of persistence in success in any area of life. When an individual has persistence combined with a burning desire to accomplish their dream they can attain great accomplishments.

Empathy – one individual who brought this concept to the front of our minds was Daniel Goleman in his books on Emotional Intelligence. This is the ability for us to not only understand our own feelings, but also the feelings of the person we are relating to. Davis states it as “feeling whatever that person is feeling.”¹

Authenticity – the ability to be appropriately genuine and honest with those we lead helps increase trust and therefore builds greater cohesion among the team. The individual leader’s style may vary because some are intense while others are more relaxed in their style. No matter the leader’s style, if they are consistent, honest, and transparent in the right ways this will demonstrate authenticity.

Knowledge – no one follows a leader who does not know what they are doing . . . at least not for long. Davis reminds us that even if the doctor is really empathetic, persistent, and authentic if they do not know what they are doing there is no way we will let them operate on us. Without an appropriate level of knowledge leaders will not be able to maintain the credibility that will keep the team unified.

When you look at the four principles in Davis’ PEAK profile where do you need to grow? Do you easily give up as the climb gets challenging? Do you take time to understand and feel what those you lead feel? That may seem unproductive in the short term, but I wonder if the return is exponential in the long term. Are you authentic with your team members and continually growing in your expertise of the industry you are in whether through formal or informal education? At times I have found people need a coach to help them think into this process so they can see what they may not have seen on their own similar to what these sport coaches do for their athletes. Whatever you need to grow in, take the first step so you can become a better leader both at work and home.

Davis, Seth. Getting to Us. New York: Penguin House, 2018 p.3.

Mar

2018

Do You Have a Team for Your Dream?

“Individuals play the game, but teams win championships.”

John C. Maxwell

I have had the privilege of being a part of championship sports teams. I have been able to coach individual champions, but even more fun to be a part of were the team champions. These past few days though I was able to be a part of a world class team of champions.

You may be wondering what I am talking about on the last part, but I will get back to that. Maybe you have a huge dream you are trying to accomplish as a leader or let’s just call it a vision. The vision could be to meet a specific financial benchmark or reach a specific amount of people in your market or in the world. Maybe it relates to something entirely different and when you think of your vision it overwhelms you. . . . good!

If our dreams can be accomplished with just us as individuals then we are dreaming too small. During the last week I got to be a part of a team of leaders with The John Maxwell Team and John Maxwell himself who were in Costa Rica training 15,000 leaders from every area of influence to lead roundtables. These individuals who have been trained now will be able to train others in this same process and be able to transform their organizations and ultimately their country. How did you do that in just a few days you may ask?

Teamwork.

Each coach invested their time and resources and decided they would go to help this launch. What does all this mean for you and your leadership?

As I was a part of this experience and have seen championships won in the past, the common theme is that each team member had bought into the common vision. Recently I read that if someone isn’t buying into the vision that is OK, give them respect and time to work through barriers and then, if necessary, let them move on. They will surely find a dream they want to align themselves with, but apparently not yours.
The teams I have experienced accomplishing great things have valued the collective goal more than their personal goals. We are all selfish so as the leader we need to help people see how the bigger picture aligns with their individual desires. This may be the entry point, but at some point a great team player will see the team’s goal as more important and use their strengths to fulfill their role on the team. This is the superstar player who may not get the ball much, but makes the play at the right time to help the team.
The team I was a part of in Costa Rica knew something critical to team success: the leader cares about us more than his ego. John Maxwell is a very authentic and transparent leader and even though I don’t get much time with him I know he cares about me and this trip was about serving the people of Costa Rica and not exalting John. When we know that everyone is aligned with the common goal of serving the people it makes it much easier to align with the leader’s goal and serve as one unified team.

How big is your dream? Do you have a dream that is bigger than you? Is your vision a vision that makes you appropriately uncomfortable and you see that you need a bigger team? Are you willing to let go of control and empower others to help you accomplish the vision? Who do you need on your team? You may not know right now, but keep thinking and you will. Keep pursuing the vision, build the team, and accomplish the dream. Lead well.