 |
I’d like to take some time today to look at the second secret of inspirational leadership “Everyone wants to feel valued”. This follows close on to what we have been talking about with regard to bonding mechanisms in the creation of a high performance team environment. Secret two is the second fundamental rule of human nature with regards to creating our high performance team. It is sine qua non. Without which, nothing.
Why is this so? Because what we are really talking about here is VALUE itself. What does it mean to give value to someone, or to something? What does it mean to be valued? The inspirational leader understands at a fundamental level that the secret of moving people is to know what it is we value and how it is that we want to be valued. Bonding mechanisms in a high performance team are the tools of giving value. They are the RESULTS of being valued. They are strengthened by the process of valuing.
I think we all intrinsically know this. If we do, why do I bother to say it at all? Why do we have it as a fundamental rule? I would say that the answer is that we find it so hard to actually COMPLY with and EXECUTE valuing people. This includes ourselves, I would argue, as well. We UNDERSTAND the need to be valued for us. We just find it hard to actually value. In fact, we find that it can be the hardest thing we will do as leaders and team builders.
The first person we have to value is ourselves. The first thing within ourselves that we have to value is our own uniqueness, our own specialness. This is never very easy, especially if you, like me, are a driven person. Sometimes what motivates us is what we haven’t done yet. What defines us is our inadequacies, not our strengths. Not unusual, just the way it is sometimes. If we don’t value ourselves, it is sometimes hard to remember to value others.
And yet, valuing others is the job of the inspirational leader. If we do it well, we can unleash the potential of all that we have the privilege to lead. If we do it poorly, we become the leader that people would rather push into the fire than one they would follow through the fire. Let’s think for a minute about how we use the term “value”. When we speak of gold, we say it is valuable. A .350 hitter in baseball is a ‘valuable” commodity. That which is rare, or precious, or greatly desired is “valued’ highly. The key is that it is greatly desired by a great number of people. Many times, the PERCEPTION of value is just as important as the actual value. In other words, gold is valuable because it is indeed rare. That is reality. Paper money is valued because it has become conventional to assume that it is “worth” a certain stated amount, that it can be “redeemed” for truly valuable assets. One is real, the other is perceived. And yet, the perception is as important as the reality, because the perception demands the same action and behavior as the reality. We tend to value what we all agree is valuable. This is a very important secret for the inspirational leader to grasp.
So, we have a couple of different definitions of secret two. We must try to;
Value ourselves
Value others
Know the things and people we are willing to value
So, if this is so obvious, why is it so difficult? Let’s take valuing others first. We find it difficult to value others because people are very complicated organisms. We are not always easy to read. There are hundreds of personality tests out there which purport to show how people will behave or why they will behave that way. The fact is, that to properly value someone, we have to know what it is they value. We have to know what makes them tick! Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at the five basic parameters for what makes us tick.
|
|
So, here we are again! The other day, we looked into the power of ties that bind. Let’s continue with that discussion in light of your own team. What are the ties that bind your people together? Well, first of all, they are all part of the same company. That company has a logo, name, company colors, mission and vision statement, credo, polices, rules and regulations and so forth. You represent all of those things (unless, of course, you are an entrepreneur and have the wonderful opportunity to come up with all of those things yourself!) If not, and you are part of a greater whole, you already have a head start. Having said that, you still have your own team that is in a separate department or division, or region within the company. So, what do you do first to develop specific ties that bind for your own high performance team?
If I were you, I would gather my team together, either geographically or virtually, and ask them a couple of questions;
What makes them so special?
What separates them from the pack? And, most importantly,
What do they want to do? (what is their goal?)
This conversation should happen in your potential high performance team either individually or collectively. But, what you are trying to do is begin the process of engagement and buy in. A true high performance team is all about alignment, being on the same page. In order to establish alignment, we need to make sure (on a continual basis) that we know exactly where we want to go. If we can get everyone to start thinking about what makes the team so special, important, and different, we begin the process of developing a personality for the team that can be represented in symbols, slogan, mottos, nicknames, and a hundred other little things that will define the special “language” of the team.
In short, we want to start developing a mini culture in our own team. The mini culture will have its own secret language, its own special ways of doing things, its own hidden meanings known only to the team. This is how we make everyone in the team feel that they are part of something that NO ONE else is a part of. Of course, new people can join the team, if they pass the test or learn the language or become worthy in some way.
All human organizations, from the tree fort club to the boy scouts to nation states to religious organizations all go through EXACTLY the same process. Your team should be no different. Once your team, TOGETHER has determined what makes them so special and different, they can start the process of coming up with:
A NAME for the team that reflects what it is that makes them so special. (THE ARGONAUTS) Then:
A MOTTO for the team that supports the name (“WE DO IT BETTER”) Then:
A MASCOT OR CORPORATE LOGO for the team (think golden arches, Mickey Mouse, Nike Swoosh etc.) and finally:
A GOAL for the next year for the team.
These things are not trivial. They are extremely important ties that bind. Your name is who you are. We are all very sensitive should someone forget our name, and we are always so impressed and gratified when someone remembers who we are, and we are insulted and devalued when someone forgets who we are. It is the same with your team. Your name defines the group. The more pride your team has in the group represented by the name, the more likely they will develop a fierce loyalty to the group and the motivation to work hard to make sure no one ever forgets the name of their team! The name, therefore, should be given a great deal of thought.
I remember when I was coaching my first crew at the Naval Academy. I asked them to come up with a name. I said, “take your time. It’s pretty important. It will help define who you are”. Well, they did. It took them six weeks to come up with a name they thought fit them and their peculiar personality. They called themselves the “PIKERS”. They really didn’t know what it meant, but my assistant coach used to always call them “you bunch of pikers” when he was slightly upset with them. They liked how it sounded. Fierce, they thought. Tough, like them. So, they said “we’re the Pikers! Our symbol is a voracious fresh water fish that will eat you alive!” I thought it was pretty funny at the time, but they embraced it with an incredible passion. T-shirts soon appeared, a special Piker language developed, nicknames among the crew, the whole bit. Before long, that crew became something very special. In the national championships, they finished a close second after a wonderful season. To this day, whenever we email each other, we refer to each other by our Piker names. I am “Piker Leader” and so forth. Pretty silly?
We work with a very large financial services company. In one of our programs, a regional sales manager (the most successful manager there in terms of sales) revealed that she had given to each one of her 15 sales reps “call signs” (Big mama, Bud lite, etc.). Whenever they communicated to each other it was through these call signs. The name of their team was “the tip of the spear”. She was former Air Force and she knew that the “tip of the spear” was the first point of contact, the leading edge, the risk takers. She wanted her team to be all of those things. She defined it with language and backed it up with a culture. Through that language and culture, she had created a pride of ownership. That is what being part of a high performance team is all about. Tomorrow, we will talk a little bit about the second secret of inspirational leadership “Everyone wants to feel valued”.
|
|
|
Yesterday, we introduced the concept of “bonding mechanisms” or, “ties that bind”. These are the invisible, some may say ephemeral, links between people that allow us eventually to trust one another, give our loyalty to each other, empathize with one another, and perform at a very high level together, as a potential high performance team. They may be invisible, but they are VERY REAL. Our mission, as high performance team leaders or followers within a high performance team, is to:
Identify the ties that currently exist within the Team.
Create new ties unique to the team and to your mission for the Team.
Strengthen those ties by emphasizing them over the life of the team.
In the world today, leaders of all ilks are struggling with the same task. Sometimes, they are helped by already existing and very powerful ties that can be used to form other ties that bind people so solidly together that they are willing and ready to die for the team. In war, this is always the case. In Iraq and Afghanistan, for instance, there are powerful teams on every side that are bound together by incredibly strong bonds based on religion, tribal affiliation, family loyalty, social conventions, philosophical alignment, and so forth. The United States military, for instance, is bound together by a common historical heritage and tradition, a common ideal represented by the Constitution of the United States, an oath of office or allegiance, a spelled out commitment to service, a common geographical position, uniforms, units, language, culture etc. Each of these by themselves is a powerful bonding agent. Together, they create an elite, highly effective team capable of outstanding performance. On the other side, guerrilla units and terrorist cells in Afghanistan, Iraq and all over the world are bound together by religion (the ultimate teambuilding bond, by the way. It is extremely difficult for a secular bond to beat the bond of an afterlife and a oneness with God). That bond cannot be destroyed. It can, however, be altered. In addition, common culture and philosophy as well as a feeling of having been wronged and devalued make for just as powerful a bond.
Leaders who understand EXACTLY what these bonds are can enhance them, emphasize them, or eliminate them and replace them with new bonds. An example is the transition Japan went through after the Meiji restoration in 1868. Here was a nation that before the 1850’s was basically feudal in nature. Its’ warriors were armed with bow, sword and spear. They were loyal to local warlords and lived off of a peasant base. Zen Buddhism and Confucianism were the primary religious tenets and the economy was almost entirely agriculturally based. And yet, within 40 years, they had transformed themselves into an outwardly expansionist, militaristic, modern, industrialized nation with an army and a fleet among the best in the world. They would fight two successful wars and change the social fabric of the nation. How did they do it?
They changed the ties that bind. By emphasizing loyalty to the Emperor, they destroyed the power of the dominant warlord (the Shogun). By creating a new “religion” around obedience to the Emperor and to the nation (Shinto), they changed the way people thought about themselves, their culture, and their nation. By control over education, they created a whole series of new ties that radically changed what people thought was EXPECTED of them and what was POSSIBLE for them. It worked so quickly because the Emperor’s clan had always been associated with the creation myth of the Japanese people. It was not hard to transfer loyalty to what was essentially a religious phenomenon (the Emperor). Nevertheless, clever men in two key clans knew exactly how to manipulate the ties that bind.
In the world of business, athletics, politics and so on, the path to performance is the same. Ties must be identified, nurtured (or eliminated), and promulgated to the team (education), so that the team will rally around them. Once this happens, trust, loyalty (even fanaticism!), performance, motivation, etc., follow. Let’s look at some practical examples in the business world. What do you think of when you think Disney? Or McDonalds? Or Starbucks? My guess is the first image that appears is Mickey Mouse, or the “golden arches” or the Starbucks lady holding the coffee cup. The first image that appears is the symbol that defines the “brand”. This symbol is a very powerful tie. Those that work for these companies identify themselves with that symbol. Beneath the symbol is a motto or saying, or something that says what the company is all about. There is a mission statement, sometimes a vision statement, most times a credo, or code that defines behavior within the company. All of these are ties that bind and are extremely important. We’ll talk more about them and the ways that you can create ties within your team tomorrow!
|
|
Yesterday, we discussed Secret number one in our Eight Secrets of Inspirational Leadership, Everyone Wants to be part of something bigger than themselves in the context of creating the right FEELING and understanding the impact of emotional buy in on our ability to create a high performance team. So, today, let’s start the process of understanding HOW to create that environment. First is the recognition of what you are trying to create and second is the understanding that YOU have the power to create any environment you want. You may think that the outside world has all the control over your environment. That is not true. In fact, there are an unbelievable number of influences that impinge upon our everyday lives from the outside world. We acknowledge that. In MOST cases, however, what you choose to allow to influence you is well within your control.
From a practical standpoint, let’s look at you as a middle manager. In the course of the last 15 years in this business, the NUMBER ONE question that I have been asked is “How do I create the proper environment, or at least the environment I want, when my boss or my organization is so negative, or different?” It is a legitimate question. My answer has always been, and continues to be, that you cannot control the outside environment. You can only control your immediate environment, and that imperfectly. But, you CAN control the attitude within that environment by your actions and your own attitude, no matter WHAT is happening outside. YOU have the power. Don’t give it up to anyone else.
Now that we know that everyone wants to be part of something bigger, take advantage of that FUNDAMENTAL RULE OF HUMAN NATURE. Resolve that YOU are going to create the environment where everyone wants to be part of. Everyone is going to want to play in YOUR sandbox. Everyone who is not on your team is going to look from the outside and say “what have they got going on there?” and “How can I be part of that?. They look so, confident, self assured, happy, prosperous, purposeful, excited (and so on and so forth).” YOU are going to create the new paradigm. Why not? Why let someone else dictate to YOU what environment is best? There is no reason for it.
So now, how to do it? Well, first, let’s look at a little history and current events. People want to rally around something that has inherent meaning to them. They want something that is going to help give their lives purpose, direction and power. They want to feel both valued AND safe. All people do not want to feel valued and safe in the same way, but we’ll get to that later. The most important point is that the ideology is not necessarily important, the philosophy is not necessarily important, the product or service is not necessarily important. It is the feeling we get when we feel purpose, direction, power, value, and safety that is important. And all of those things come about when we COMMIT to a course of action or a cause, or a thought that a lot of other people feel is important as well.
We’ll talk more about how to make that happen when we get to secrets three and four, SET THE HIGH PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE and ENNOBLE THE EFFORT. For now, let’s talk a little about what I call the “ties that bind”, or “bonding mechanisms”. Throughout history, people have felt most comfortable when they feel the most commonalities between themselves. The more we have in common with our fellow traveler through life, the more comfortable we feel. So, it is obviously important that we create more and more commonalities between each other. These are bonding mechanisms. I look at them as “bungee cords” that tie us together. They are represented most identifiably as religious affiliation, ethnicity, race, country of origin, and so forth, but also include clubs and societies we belong to, schools, sports we like, music we like, places we like to go, and so on and so forth. In fact, the first thing we try to do on a regular basis when meeting someone else is to establish common bonds. “Where did you go to school? Where are you from? Do you know Bob?” Anything where we can feel comfortable.
Knowing that, our first mission as a team leader and an inspirational leader, is to try and develop as many “bonding mechanisms” as we can. Tomorrow, we’ll look at a few historical examples to illustrate the point and give some practical ideas for moving forward on your own team!
|
|
The other day, we talked about what it FEELS like to be part of a high performance team. I like to think of things that way. Not because building and leading a high performance team is “touchy feeley” (though it has many of those elements) but because the art of inspirational leadership and creating a high performance team is all about EMOTION. You KNOW what it is like to be part of a great team because you FEEL it. It is not only the process you admire, it is the feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself. It is the feeling you get when the energy of the group becomes your own energy and vice versa.
The next thing I’d like to make a few comments on is what you, as the potential leader of a high performance team, can do to create this feeling. The first thing we should all recognize is the first secret of inspirational leadership. Everyone WANTS to be part of something bigger than themselves. We see this every single day. Pick up the paper today. What do you see? Problems in the Mideast, Al Queda on the loose, Hugo Chavez stirring up his countrymen in Venuzuela, the Dow Jones average rising and falling with market volatility, Vladimir Putin trying to consolidate power and so on and so forth. What does it all mean? It means that everywhere on this earth and in every way possible, people are trying to be part of something bigger. They are going with the trends, they are trying to create a movement, they are trying to persuade, they are trying to bring to them more converts who will BELIEVE. Because every one of us wants to BELIEVE in something. We want to be part of some greater tribe. In fact, we are all part of many, many tribes or groups, or belief systems, or organizations. It starts with our family and goes from there. Kindergarten, Boy Scouts, our religious affiliations, the choir, the local sports team, our school, city and country and on an on.
Human beings NEED to be gregarious. We want to be part of a greater whole. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to be cast from the tribe. To be isolated can be worse than death. All of the “ties that bind” are destroyed and we feel adrift and alone. There can be few greater punishments. The opposite of being cut off and adrift is, of course, to be networked and connected. But not only to be connected. To be connected to something valuable and worthy of our effort and of ourselves. This is the mission of the inspirational leader and the inspirational team builder; to create something that people want to be a part of that speaks to our inherent need to be part of something valuable and worthy of our effort and of who we are. So, the first secret of inspirational leadership, Everyone wants to be part of something bigger is the recognition that your most important mission to create that something bigger. In the coming days, we’ll look at exactly how we create that something bigger to replicate the feelings you KNOW are needed in a high performance team through the mirror of current events and historical happenings! I look forward to it!
|
|
| | << Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
| | Results 10 - 17 of 17 |
|
|
|
|
