Alone vs. together
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"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." ~Helen Keller Rewards mostly come to the individual; we rarely see incentives to perform well together as teams in our professional lives. How does that sit with you? Do you want to help change that? Here are some things to notice, and try... 1 // As a leader, look for times when team members are only talking to you during a meeting, perhaps answering a direct question or providing status on something. It can feel like a series of one-on-one's with spectators, and doesn't encourage "together". I see this often as a Team Coach. Try to bring more people into the conversation, "what do we think?" A team that knows how to dialogue well is a team that accomplishes more than most. 2 // Notice the number of questions that are asked when you're together with your team. Ask yourself, "are we learning, or knowing?" The absence of questions signals that a team is in "knowing mode" with reliance on the expertise of certain individuals, which can alienate the rest of the team. Try to ask more questions that you don't know the answer to. 3 // Celebrate true wins; if your organization doesn't celebrate the accomplishments of teams, experiment with designing your own! Encourage the team to recognize someone else in the team that helped them, or contributed in a way they admired. And if that's not something the team is used to, be brave and go first, it'll make it less weird for everyone. If you're hoping to shift from a group of "I's" to "we", what have you tried? Send me a note, I'd love to hear about it! Here are a few related resources that I've enjoyed recently and have been sharing: 1 // Leaders should be more flexible and thoughtful when their team is distracted. (5 min read) 2 // "We give too little respect to the other skills when we call them “soft” and imply that they’re optional." (5 min read) 3 // Is everything a "journey" or have we created the "linguistic equivalent of corporate stretch pants"? (3 min read) If you enjoyed this, would you please forward it to one friend who might like it too? Subscribing is easy; see below.
I hope you all have a great weekend! With gratitude, Jason P.S. - There are 3 ways I can help you when you're ready: working with you 1:1 as a leader, helping your team "team" better, and learning as a group how to manage Accidental Diminishing tendencies with the Multipliers Leadership Development program. You are receiving this email because you subscribed at https://kinkou.org. Did you make some changes or no longer want to receive these emails? You can update your profile or unsubscribe below. |