If you could get all the people in the organization rowing in the same direction, you could dominate any industry, in any market, against any competition, at any time.
Patrick Lencioni
Teamwork requires some sacrifice up front; people who work as a team have to put the collective needs of the group ahead of their individual interests.
Success is not a matter of mastering subtle, sophisticated theory but rather of embracing common sense with uncommon levels of discipline and persistence.
When leaders throughout an organization take an active, genuine interest in the people they manage, when they invest real time to understand employees at a fundamental level, they create a climate for greater morale, loyalty, and, yes, growth.
The kind of people that all teams need are people who are humble, hungry, and smart: humble being little ego, focusing more on their teammates than on themselves. Hungry, meaning they have a strong work ethic, are determined to get things done, and contribute any way they can. Smart, meaning not intellectually smart but inner personally smart.
Life is full of surprises: new opportunities come up; that's part of the fun - the adventure of life. The thing is, chaos doesn't allow us to enjoy the adventure.
The majority of meetings should be discussions that lead to decisions.
Clients don't expect perfection from the service providers they hire, but they do expect honesty and transparency. There is no better way to demonstrate this than by acknowledging when a mistake has been made and humbly apologizing for it.
Team synergy has an extraordinary impact on business results.
Whether we're talking about leadership, teamwork, or client service, there is no more powerful attribute than the ability to be genuinely honest about one's weaknesses, mistakes, and needs for help.
When truth takes a backseat to ego and politics, trust is lost.
Trying to design the perfect plan is the perfect recipe for disappointment.
What clients are really interested in is honesty, plus a baseline of competence.
For organizations seriously committed to making teamwork a cultural reality, I'm convinced that 'the right people' are the ones who have three virtues in common - humility, hunger, and people smarts.
The best kind of accountability on a team is peer-to-peer. Peer pressure is more efficient and effective than going to the leader, anonymously complaining, and having them stop what they are doing to intervene.
The truth is that intelligence, knowledge, and domain expertise are vastly overrated as the driving forces behind competitive advantage and sustainable success.
Teamwork is a strategic decision.
If you're not willing to accept the pain real values incur, don't bother going to the trouble of formulating a values statement. You'll be better off without one.
There is almost nothing more painful for a leader than seeing good people leave a growing organization, whether it's a priest watching a Sunday school teacher walk out the door or a CEO saying goodbye to a co-founder.
People who have a sense of peace that their priorities are in the right place also have a sense of humility and a realistic view on life.
Contrary to popular wisdom, the mark of a great meeting is not how short it is or whether it ends on time. The key is whether it ends with clarity and commitment from participants.
You can go to work and actually make someone else's job less miserable. Use your job to help others.
At the heart of every great movie is conflict. It's the same with a meeting. There should be conflict and tension.
If you want to lead, you better love people. Even if you don't like them, you have to love them enough to tell them the truth.
Conflict is always the right thing to do when it matters.
Hungry people are always looking for more. More things to do. More to learn. More responsibility to take on.
Failing to engage in conflict is a terrible decision, one that puts our temporary comfort and the avoidance of discomfort ahead of the ultimate goal of our organization.
I have many times marveled at how I could feel so good about myself while eating peanuts in a middle seat on Southwest Airlines and yet feel so condescended to in first class on United.
The problem is too often they are boring, and boring in a meeting happens for the same reason as in a book or movie - when there is not enough compelling tension. Meetings should be intense.
Too often, companies focus on systems and structures that facilitate cultural change at the mid-management level, overlooking problems closer to the top.
When team members trust each other and know that everyone is capable of admitting when they're wrong, then conflict becomes nothing more than the pursuit of truth or the best possible answer.
I have yet to meet members of a leadership team who I thought lacked the intelligence or the domain expertise required to be successful. I've met many, however, who failed to foster organizational health. Their companies were riddled with politics, various forms of dysfunction, and general confusion about their direction and mission.
You need to make sure you hire people who are capable of being strong team players. Team members should fit the company's culture, be committed to the team, and be capable of being genuinely vulnerable and selfless.
You have to build trust among team members so that people feel free to admit what they don't know, make mistakes, ask for help if they need it, apologize when necessary, and not hold back their opinions.
Your focus should be on creating an environment where growth can occur and then letting nature take its course.
I never accepted the premise that meetings themselves were bad.
Where there is humility, there is more success, and lasting success.
At its core, all authentic growth depends on more customers wanting more of what your company offers. Any other drivers - pricing gimmicks, heroic marketing efforts, forced acquisitions - are ultimately destructive.
Engaged, enthusiastic, and loyal employees are pivotal drivers of growth and health in any organization.
I know that any group of people can become a team if they do the right things, but I came to realize over time that if you acquire or develop the right kind of people, that process of building a team is going to be much more effective and easier.
Without trust, the most essential element of innovation - conflict - becomes impossible.
Meetings are usually terrible, but they shouldn't be.
Irrelevance is the feeling that an employee gets when they don't see how their job really makes a difference in someone else's life in some large or small way.
Meetings are the linchpin of everything. If someone says you have an hour to investigate a company, I wouldn't look at the balance sheet. I'd watch their executive team in a meeting for an hour. If they are clear and focused and have the board on the edge of their seats, I'd say this is a good company worth investing in.
Values can set a company apart from the competition by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong values - and sticking to them - requires real guts.
Team members need to learn to leverage one another, and that doesn't happen over a golf game or on a phone. It happens by getting together and taking the time to know each other.
What's amazing is that so many leaders who value teamwork will tolerate people who aren't humble. They reluctantly hire self-centred people and then justify it because those people have desired skills.
On great teams - the kind where people trust each other, engage in open conflict, and then commit to decisions - team members have the courage and confidence to confront one another when they see something that isn't serving the team.
The sad fact is that it would be fair to say that United is a generic, bureaucratic, tired company. A sort of DMV in the sky. No real culture. No real strategy. No real expectations for employees or customers. All of which is a shame.
Smart people tend to know what is happening in a group situation and how to deal with others in the most effective way. They ask good questions, listen to what others are saying, and stay engaged in conversations intently.
