We're talking collaboration today. How much do you value collaboration?
How well are you set up to help your people play collaboratively?
G’day, Richard here.
We often look to elite sport to take lessons and principles from how well they bring people together from diverse backgrounds, weld them into a playing unit that then can drive forward and sustain performance at the elite level for a long time.
One of the mentors I look to in this space is @Cameron Schwab. Cam was three times a CEO running an Australian Football League club. He's brought his principles together in several ways, not the least of which being his book “More to the Game, What Leaders can Learn from Football.”
There's plenty of gems in here, but two that I want to pick on.
First, “the most important person in a club is the one with the ball in their hand.” …And it might not be you - probably isn't, but are you prepared for when the ball moves. Fascinating.
When they get new players into the club the first value the CEO seeks to teach is selflessness, so they learn what is the second gem: “only one player can kick a goal, but it is the team that scores it.”
How does that sit with you?
Do you really recognize the team and pulling performance through to the highest levels? Or, are we only focused on the individual and then this world today?
There's so much focus on the individual: goal orientation, task orientation, valued for your expertise, focus on achievement, which often brings us down to ‘if you measure it, you can manage it.’
But when we're team focused, we're clear on our direction. We understand the milestones for getting there and in Australian football, that's quarter by quarter. (…Right?)
People are valued for their contribution. And it might not be ‘kicking the goal’ but actually helping get ‘the ball’ through to the person who can ‘kick the goal’ that actually makes the score. So, it's focused in on genuine progress from the whole, not just highlighted progress from the parts.
How do you go on that?
Are you able to tell a similarly apocryphal story to when President Kennedy arrived at one of the NASA buildings and asked the janitor, “what do you do here?” And he said, “I'm helping put a man on the moon.”
How would people answer in your organization? Is there one answer?
Interesting question, isn't it?
I wonder how you’d answer. Let me know. Drop a note. And we'll catch up again next week.
Let's get on and play collaboratively and value it warmly.
Take care. Have a great week.
Be collaborative.
Richard
#NoProblemTooBig
#AnchorOnValue
#Mentor #Speaker #AntiComplexity