A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read allIf the Shoe Fits posts here
Research has shown that culture trumps strategy and the most important component of culture is people.
Without people there is no company.
With the wrong people there is no team.
It is the team that makes your vision a reality.
It is the team that draws investment.
It is the team that lets you pivot when necessary.
It is the team that saves your ass when you screw up.
Your team is made up of the people who focus on the success of the company, knowing that its success ensures their own, not the people who work primarily for their own success.
A strong team always trumps a group of individual players—no matter how good.
To ensure you have a team and not a group you need a rock-solid hiring and compensation (salary and stock) philosophy, method and process, because the needs of the team trumps any individual’s credentials, experience, previous title and company.
Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process. It’s so easy a CEO can do it.
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Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.
This is a guest post from Becky Robinson, who writes Weaving Influence, and is also working with Kevin Eikenberry on the launch today of his new book, From Bud to Boss; Becky is Director of Social Media Marketing and Community Building.
In all honesty I haven’t read the book, but I can say that Kevin is well-grounded and typically gives solid, common sense advice.
In this post, Becky offers up her own savvy input on the importance of team support.
The Final Mile
If you’ve worked on a big project lately, you know that fatigue can set in as you approach the final days before the launch.
In mid-December, I joined a new team to help with the promotion of a new book, due out for publication today.
I am working with two authors who I knew, in varying degrees, before I joined the team. At that point, they had already done the work to bring the book to print: the planning, the writing, and the editing.
In many ways, I joined them during the 4th quarter, the 9th inning, the final mile of a marathon.
By the time I get to the final miles or yards of a long race, I am running on pure guts. To keep myself going, I remind myself of how far I’ve come, how little I have left in comparison, and why I am running in the first place.
Yet despite my mental gymnastics, I find myself slowing. Many times, until I can actually see the finish line, I am barely shuffling along.
When I’ve run long distance races before, I’ve watched with envy as fellow runners are joined by friends or family members in those last miles. Suddenly, those runners pick up the pace, encouraged by the presence of others to help them along. Their friends have fresh legs and they seem to impart extra energy just by their presence.
Ending a race well is important.
Having a strong team to surround you is a great way to increase your chances of success when you are completing a long term project. When you feel depleted, you can rely on the energy and enthusiasm of your teammates. When you feel refreshed, you can give support to others.
You can even add team members to your project during the final miles to gain their strength as you finish your project. When they join you with fresh legs, you’ll find yourself running even faster toward your finish line.
If you’re interested in the new book I’ve been working on, you can learn more at www.frombudtoboss.com. From Bud to Boss: Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership is a new book from Kevin Eikenberry and Guy Harris. If you buy the book today, you will be able to access great bonuses from our partners.
This is as true today as it was 38 years ago when Dr Robert McNeish first expounded on it.
1. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an ‘uplift’ for the bird following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone. Lesson: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier when they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
2. Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back in formation to take advantage of the ‘lifting power’ of the bird immediately in front. Lesson: If we have as much sense as a goose we will stay in formation with those who are headed where we want to go. (If none are then we know we are with the wrong flock. Ed.)
3. When the lead goose gets tired it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. Lesson: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing the leadership interdependent with each other.
4. The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. Lesson: We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging, rather than making less helpful noises.
5. When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or dies. Then they launch out on their own with another formation or to catch up with the flock. Lesson: If we have as much sense and compassion as the geese, we’ll skip the politics and knives and support each other.
I have a contest running on Leadership Turn, so click over and share your favorite business OMG moments for the chance to win a copy of Jason Jenning’s Hit The Ground Running.
I was talking with Tom Wohlmut this morning and, in the course of the conversation, he passed on a great line that I’d like to share with you.
“Give a fool a tool and you’ll still have a fool.”
A sage comment, frequently forgotten in our tech-happy world.
But how, exactly, does this wisdom impact you, as a manager?
To start with, it warns that you can’t fix an underperforming person or group by showering them with outside tools, whether technology or the latest silver bullet du jour.
And you can’t fix everybody. If, in fact, you truly hired a fool, or what’s passing for one, then you have a responsibility to yourself, your group, and the person hired to unhire him before too much damage is done.
However, the majority of fools aren’t really fools; they’re more like lost souls looking for a path to productivity and personal satisfaction. Most people want to do their work well and they want to feel good about what they do.
It’s not simple or easy or even much fun, but that’s your real job as a manager; guiding them to the path out of fooldom and into becoming an appreciated member of a powerful team.
It’s also one of the most satisfying experiences you’ll ever have.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Research has shown that culture trumps strategy and the most important component of culture is people.
