Building An Egoless Team
When Leadership Focuses on the Right Things!
I traveled this week to be onsite with one of my COO clients, and I have to say how much I love working with this team. The owner of this business gets it...she understands how important it is to have a team that syncs seamlessly.
What I love about them the most is their lack of ego and their dedication to ‘just get it done.’ They band together when problems arise, and they take care of it as a team. And when it comes to customer service...they hit it out of the park. Their customers are their number one concern, and they do everything in their power to ensure that the clients are heard and taken care of...and this business reaps the rewards because they are referred over and over!
When I started working as a COO for this business many years ago, we started by sorting out job functions...who did what? The first thing the owner of this business said to me...” ask them what they like doing and what they don’t like doing.”
She knew that if her team really liked what they did each day they would enjoy working with her more. She truly wants them to do what they are good at...because she knows it matters.
Why am I sharing this with you?
Because if you have a team that seems disjointed, it might be because you’re not focusing on the right things.
Here are a few suggestions to help you start to cultivate a healthy team:
Build an Ego Free Team by focusing on a cause that is bigger than themselves.
Leaders have to master the ability not to be reactive or defensive.
Your team will mirror your behavior. If it’s not okay for them...it’s not okay for you.
Build an Open Team by creating acceptance of new ideas and collaboration.
The team respects other’s opinions and ideas.
Build a Team that takes full responsibility for how they communicate.
It’s your responsibility to make sure people understand what you’re saying.
I love the Color Code Communication System because it helps your team understand each other and communicate in productive ways.
Build a Team that understands and respects accountability.
No blaming and admits mistakes.
As a leader, it’s easy to get caught up in your business and lose sight of your responsibility of leading and mentoring. It takes work and time. And you should know that everyone won’t work in the environment you’re creating, and that’s okay.
Leadership Lesson: Take a few minutes to review the suggestions above and rate yourself on how you feel you’re doing in each category. I don’t know about you…but I would much rather spend my time leading and mentoring my team than dealing with in-fighting and arguing from a group that doesn’t work well together.