Leadership Team Development #4 – All In

Ann Clifford, owner of Safari Solutions, shared the following comment on the first post in this series: “I’ve found that the best leaders are passionate about their mission. Assuming your mission goes beyond just making money, your enthusiasm and dedication to carry out your mission is embraced by your team. Your team will respect you for what you do and how you do, rather than your position title.” Very good comment Ann.

When we think about developing a leadership team, we have to start with a shared vision. A team of leaders can’t lead an organization effectively if they are pointing or pulling in different directions, so you must decide and get on the same page with who you are as an organization (your core values), why you exist (your purpose, cause or passion), what you do (your niche), where you are going (your big goal and 3-Year Picture) and how you will get there (your marketing strategy, 1-Year Plan and quarterly priorities).

When I say same page, I’m not just saying you all have to intellectually share the vision. That’s a given, because you all need to be able to communicate your vision clearly and consistently to avoid confusion. But Ann makes a good point. A great leadership team shares the vision emotionally as well. They are engaged and passionate about who the organization is, why it exists and where it is going. As a leader, how can you expect your people to be engaged if you aren’t engaged? You’ll never get all of your people rowing together if your leaders aren’t rowing together, so real progress begins with getting all of your leaders on the same page. The team can’t be 65% in. To be a great leadership team, you have to be all in as they say at the Texas hold ‘em tables.

Here are your takeaway points for this week:

• Be honest with yourselves. Are all the leaders on your leadership team engaged and passionately heading in the same direction? If not, you have some work to do. Right now, I just want to create awareness. In my next post, I’m going to help you make sure your team passionately possesses a set of common core values. It’s important to start there.
• Read the Harvard Business Press article, “Making Your Values Mean Something” by Patrick M. Lencioni (Reprint R0207J). It’s one of the best articles I’ve read on the topic of discovering your core values.

Encouragement – if you have some leadership team issues, it makes you normal. Don’t panic. Just commit to making tough but important decisions going forward. If you do that, things will get better.