All tagged Building Teams
Trust is something we all intuitively believe in. We understand that it forms the foundations of each and every relationship we have, in every sphere of life.
We're, therefore, very careful about doling out our trust. It's worth realizing though that trust is a two way street - and that it's as much our responsibility to foster it, as it is the other person's.
Self-awareness is a tricky thing.
I mean, we intuitively recognize its importance, but truly practicing it - balancing it - is another thing altogether. Certainly, we’ve seen examples of folks who run the entire spectrum.
Those who are like a bull in a China shop, completely oblivious to whatever anyone around them says or thinks - or perhaps they are aware but simply don’t care or believe it’s necessary to consider their views.
One of the hardest but most valuable abilities we can develop is the ability to maintain strength in our convictions, our beliefs and our vision. This is true in all walks of life, but particularly so where you’ve been tasked with achieving a specific objective or leading a team towards a particular end goal.
In that quest, you are called upon to define the specific path, chart out how best to navigate it, and then, as you embark on the journey, bring others with you.
If we think about situations or times in our lives when we’ve felt underwater, under pressure or simply out of pace with what’s going on, it’s quite probable that we’ve reacted to those around us in less than positive ways.
Perhaps someone asks us about our work and we lash out at them instead of giving them a straight answer.
Episode 26 of the podcast is now available and this episode continues this month’s theme of Management Consulting war stories, specifically the lessons I learned working with difficult people.
It’s amazing to me that the one subject that has had the most influence on our ability to get anything done in business (and, frankly, personal) life is also the one that is given the least attention (relatively) at Business School: working with people.
Don’t get me wrong - it’s not as if there isn’t any acknowledgement that it’s critical (there is) or that Professors don’t speak to its importance (they do).
Guys like Michael Jordan are the "Go-To" guys on their teams.
If there's a need for a result, a change of pace or a game change, then you would pass the ball to Mike and let him do his magic.
We don’t work alone. We weren’t meant to. We’re not wired that way, we really don’t think that way and we certainly don’t get things done purely by ourselves in any practical sense.
I saw this sign on the seatback of a British Rail train. An appropriate message - some would say pretty obvious even - but it’s the line close to the end that’s the most interesting:
When working with a team member, it's important to gauge whether the issue they're exhibiting is fixable or not. And the question to ask, in this regard, is whether it's a values-based problem or a content-based development issue?
I once worked on a project with someone who I found to be very difficult to partner with. There were a number of reasons for it - part working style, part communication, part differing perspectives on the task at hand.
