Another new feature for this year is exerpts from the Leading for Dollar$! leadership course. Each month I'll include a section of that course free for you.
Please feel free to share this letter with your boss and HR department.
A team, by definition, is a group working towards a specific goal. The word derives from two or more animals pulling a load. The point is a team must be going in the same direction and sharing the load equally. Have you ever watched a dog sled team? Those teams can pull a sled that weighs hundreds of pounds. No one dog can pull all that, but when teamed together, they can. How?
First, the dogs love to pull. Good sled dogs have a natural sense of curiosity. They love to run and pull. Also, the musher makes it fun and there is enthusiasm among all the dogs. Your team members may not have a natural sense for what you are trying to accomplish but most people do have a desire to be on a successful and winning team. When the leader makes the team's mission clear and makes sure each member understands their part in achieving that mission, those members will be much more likely to be enthusiastic about what they're doing.
Second, the dogs are harnessed together. When they pull together, even pulling a very heavy sled can be an easy task. Your team will be more effective when they work together and all of them contribute. If only one or two members of the team are really working, they will tire easily as the remaining, non-contributing members become extra weight.
Third, mushers choose their lead dogs very carefully. Your team leader needs to clearly understand the mission and be able to help the other team members give their best efforts. One interesting quality of a good lead dog is the ability to know where the trail is going. A team leader should have a very clear understanding of the mission and goals and how they fit into the organization's mission and goals. That understanding will separate a great team leader from the rest. There's an important point about the lead dog that team leaders should take to heart. Even though lead dogs are in front, they still pull. They know the mission is to take the team somewhere. They never assume the other dogs are there for them.
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "You need to be a team player." Sometimes the phrase is used as a general comment to a group, sometimes by way of instruction to an individual, and sometimes just an admonition. Generally though, this phrase means, "you better start doing things my way." When I hear this comment, I know the team leader probably doesn't really understand how to build an effective team or doesn't truly get the role of the team leader. One person I know used this comment so frequently that I finally answered him by saying that I was a team player; we just didn't seem to be on the same team. He cared less about the team than his own accomplishments. The result was a less effective team.
Is your team pulling together? Do your team members understand the mission and their part in accomplishing that mission? Does your team have an effective leader who understands where the team is headed and how to get there?
Leading for Dollar$!
Excerpts from the introductory leadership course that will develop energized leaders, engaged employees, and more profits.
Know Yourself
Let's start with you. As you go through this course, you'll learn that leadership is about what you do for the organization and its people.
It is never about you!
But, in order to be a good leader, you must take the time to assess who you are. It is very difficult to lead others if you don't have a solid foundation. That foundation is your knowledge, experience, core beliefs and an understanding of yourself. You'll be of much greater service to your organization and the people you are charged to lead when you understand and reinforce that foundation.
First, let's examine what's important to you. List the most important things in your life. (Family counts as one)
1. _________________________ 2. _____________________________
3. _________________________ 4. _____________________________
5. _________________________ 6. _____________________________
If you're like most people, the first couple entries were not about your job. That's normal. If you listed two or more items at the top that are job related, take that as a note of caution. By the same token, if you didn't list anything at all about the job, that might be a warning sign as well. Your job should be important to you, but must also be balanced with other parts of your life, and you must have interests and activities that allow you to leave the job behind and focus on something unrelated.
A leader must have a clear understanding of his or her values. This isn't about religion, though that may play a big part in forming your beliefs. Rather, you need to know, at a basic level, what your values are.
Values are those deep seated beliefs everyone has that spurs them to do some things while discouraging them from doing other things. Values can usually be expressed in one or two words, such as "integrity," or "hard work." You may often hear someone say "that person has no values." That's most likely an incorrect statement, as everyone has things in which they truly believe or which drive them to certain actions. Conflict results when one person's values contradict those of another. For instance, most people do not accept the taking of property without consent. We usually call that theft. There are people though who value self-enrichment and act on that value to the detriment of others and society as a whole.
As you consider your own value set, think about your deep seated beliefs; those things you feel are most important and which you will not compromise. For instance, one value you hold might be honesty. If that's one of your values, then cheating someone in a business transaction is something you would not do. If you find self-enrichment to be a greater value, then you might consider cheating someone else, even if it's something you would not normally do, since you value self-enrichment more. In recent years, we've heard much about people in various businesses whose value set does not prevent them from taking advantage of others. The reason they get caught is that society, as a whole, has different values and will act on those values when they feel they are being challenged.
Many organizations post a list of their organizational values. These are values the organization professes and provides the basic guideline for how they operate. You too have a set of values that guide how you conduct yourself on a day-to-day basis. The difference is, while an organization is telling its members how it expects them to conduct themselves, your self-analysis reveals your own deep seated beliefs formed over your life time. If anyone tells you to act contrary to those values, you will experience conflict. That's why it is critical for you to know your values and for the organization to ensure all of its members know the organization's values as well.
In determining values, think of what drives you to do things. Don't confuse values with goals. You may have personal goals, but it is your values which help define those goals. For instance, you may have a goal to become a millionaire by age 35. At the same time, you value honesty and integrity. These values will temper your attempts to reach your goal. Being wealthy is not a value, but honesty is and may help you reach your goal.
My values are:
1. _________________________ 2. ____________________________
3. _________________________ 4. ____________________________
